Sealed in a Kiss
by Sable Scribe
Summary: Neji never would have thought that a simple hunting mission could go so wrong so fast, when he's separated and injured away from his team, a Young Priestess saves his life and removes the bird cage seal. How will he answer the elders when home?
1. Lost and Found

I don't own anything =[

Beta: Bloodcherry

Thanks for fixing this up!

Chapter 1

Neji breathed violently as he ran, the rain was coming in torrents now. At some time in the return mission, he'd been separated from his team and he was lost just inside the border of Fire Country. He wasn't familiar with this area; in fact, he was much more comfortable running scrolls to and from Suna.

What the hell had the council been thinking sending his team on this mission? While his Byakugan could indeed see for miles and at 360 degree, that did not mean that team Gai would EVER be suited or prepared for tracking. Being told to hunt down Shima Otokawa was not how he wanted to spend his summer time.

Then again, not one of them expected the missing Leaf nin to go running off to West Country, which was even beyond the borders of demon county, so for the last three months his team had been after this idiot because he disagreed with the new Hokage. They had eventually caught the bastard, he'd been trying to sell Konoha secrets to the Tsuchikage of Iwa. Why he'd needed this long as roundabout route to do this, Neji wasn't really sure.

Neji swore mentally as yet another Iwa nin tried to take his head off, why the head? He rather liked his head being connected to his shoulders. He really, really didn't want to die.

Neji released a strangled cry as a kunai was lodged into his shoulder, how… how did it get through his defense? He hadn't even seen the weapon coming, was he truly that tired? Unfortunately for Neji, when he jumped back the ground beneath his feet gave way. He had no chakra to stop his decent; the best he could manage at this point was to slow it down.

As he slowed, Neji flinched as the debris that followed with the falling dirt rained down atop him. When he landed in the cold water below, he knew he was in deep trouble. The water was rushing faster and he was running out of energy, it seemed like hours had passed while he managed to force himself to stay afloat. Finally with a struck of luck Neji found himself close enough to shore and without the strength of the raging current he managed to pull himself onto dry land. Seconds later he would lose consciousness from lack of food, sleep and energy.

Kagome laughed softly at the others, they had no need of men or sake or cards. They had no need of ninja, or samurai, or war. These things didn't touch the temple, nor the other temples that scattered the continent and beyond. They, the priests and priestesses, were bound by duty to protect and heal. They were trained for war, and they were trained for healing, but more importantly were trained to free those who were bound by a curse or seal. At least that was what occurred within the last forty years. When the lands settled, the priest and priestess with them, it would be known by commonality that these men and women wouldn't be attacked. They wouldn't be subdued and they could not be bought.

It was what made Kagome so proud of her station; she was a priestess of the fire temple. Her dearest friends being her own twin, Kikyo, and non-blood sister Sango; between the three of them the temple of fire was kept at peace and away from war.

"Ah, Miroku, I'm going to the river, if I find you peeping I'll tell Sango!" Kagome yelled at the monk cheerfully, all the while making her way toward the river for a bath. It was closer and for once she didn't really feel like hiking all the way to the mountains to take a hot bath. That and she could feel something tugging her toward the spring.

Kagome snickered to herself, Miroku was lucky that his heart was there at the temple. None of the men who had come through the temple had been the one for herself or Kikyo. Kagome sighed shaking the thoughts from her mind; it wasn't a good idea to go down that road.

Kagome yelped as she stumbled, so lost in her thoughts she never noticed the man lying on the banks. Kagome gave a cry before dropping her things to check on the man. Poor dear, had he washed downstream? Shuddering at the thought, Kagome immediately began to look for wounds.

Kagome could only see the Kunai in his upper shoulder, it was just below the clavicle, but had not hit anything major. Sighing, Kagome whistled and waited. Over the next few minutes the young priestess continued to look over the man before her, he really was beautiful with that lovely black glossed hair and pale ivory skin. To be honest she was a little jealous, it was just such a nice shade of white compared to her own tanned features.

Chuckling softly, gentle hands rubbed a small furred head as it finally arrived rubbing against her knee. "Neh, Kururu, will you help me take him back to the temple?"

Kururu chirped happily, she was a nekomata, a two tailed demon her kind had worked with Priests and Priestess for generations. They were different from the Bijuu Nibi in the fact that they were made of flesh and bones, instead of emotions and chakra. In fact Kururu, had littered not four months ago. Kagome would be getting her own nekomata soon, she was rather excited about the thought.

With a whirl of wind, Kururu now stood taller than the small woman standing nearby. With some clever maneuvering and gentle rolls the young man rested across the giant cat, and it was a slow and steady walk back.

"Kagome!" Kikyo cried, "What were you thinking? A ninja of all things! Why would you bring him back here?" She was extremely unhappy with this turn of events.

"Did you expect me to leave him to die?" Kagome asked her movements becoming hurried to get back to the injured man.

"That's not the point! There is no reason to keep that NINJA in your quarters." A scowl was running across her face, those soft chocolate colored eyes flashing.

Kagome simply sighed before moving past her sister, opening the shoji screen she continued to ignore the stalking mutterer behind her. "Would you stop!" Kagome asked, a frown on her face. Why wouldn't Kikyo let it rest?

"Because he's going to take you away!" Kikyo eeped, a hand covering her lips in shock, she wasn't supposed to have said that.

Soft blue eyes softened, "Kikyo, it'll be okay." Kagome knelt beside the man, she'd completely removed his clothing, including the head band that had crossed his forehead. She had never expected to find the seemingly innocent seal that rested there. "But I need your help removing this."

Kagome stated softly pointing to the mark of the seal. It was in the shape of an 'X' directly centered in the forehead, she knew it was dangerous to his health. It gave someone the ability to kill the man should they wish it, and that went against the code of the temple. Freedom was always deserved.

Kikyo nearly cried, why was her sister so determined? What did she see in this odd Ninja man? Nodding, Kikyo helped her twin, and for the next several hours, the two of them worked together to remove the seal. Because of the way they had removed it, the seal could never be placed upon the ninja's person again, but then again, NO other seal would be able to be placed upon the man unless he put it there himself.

Kagome smiled at the accomplishment, everything was set, and now all she had to do was wait. And wait she would, she really wanted to know what his eyes looked like, to see if he would fit with the rest of his person.

"Come on Kagome, you need to pick out a Nekomata." Kikyo grumbled pulling her sister toward the door.

Kagome snorted in laugher but allowed herself to be pulled, it wasn't like he was going anywhere soon.

In the Hyuuga Compound in Konoha, one Hiashi Hyuuga gave a startled cry when the tattoo running up his forearm flared in pain. The pain indicated that one of the Branch Members had died, but that was hard to believe, currently only two of them were on missions.

Rolling the sleeve back the older man felt as if his heart was crushed, Neji's mark was gone. If that were the case… then Neji was dead. How could he explain that to his daughters? Or the Elders, for that matter?

Hinata was so looking forward to her wedding to the Namikaze boy, she had completely expected her nii-chan to be there. And he wouldn't. He was gone, much like Hizashi.

Thick fingers covered in calluses rubbed roughly against an aged face, the last factor of his twin was gone. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks as they always did when one of the main or branch members died.

"I'm really getting to old for this." Hiashi spoke slowly, before going to the Hokage's office. He knew Neji's team wasn't back yet, he might as well tell Tsunade to hope for the best, but be prepared for the worse.

It had been two weeks since Kagome had found the wounded man, and she had to admit she got a thrill of washing that muscled, scarred body off. It was wrong of her to see him as such, he would be leaving after he woke. There would be nothing to do or say about it.

The reason it was taking so long was because of the fractures in his bones and damage to his internal organs. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened to cause all the damage, but it was completely possible that the river had done all that when the man had fallen in.

Kagome gently played with his hair; it was so soft, it really wasn't fair! Why was it that so many men had lovely hair? Chuckling to herself, Kagome nearly screamed when a hand caught her wrist restricting her movement.

Blinking, Kagome smiled. He was awake!

Neji groaned, he hurt everywhere; he'd been in battle and was currently disoriented. It was a bit like being home, but that certainly wasn't Hanabi playing with his hair. Lavender eyes opened slowly, before fast reflexes stopped the hand fiddling with his hair. Another groan was released followed by a hard hacking cough.

Kagome sighed, gently she tugged his hand from her wrist, "Nee, your safe. You are in the Fire Temple near Konshu."

Neji looked at the woman who was holding his calloused hand, she was beautiful. Thick raven black hair, soft blues eyes and tanned skin, he nearly died when he felt himself becoming attracted to the woman.

"Why?" he asked, throat dry and painful.

"I found you on the river banks, you were in terrible shape. And it was duty," Kagome replied, it was a lie. She'd saved him because she'd known he was the one she was waiting for, the one the gods had aligned for her.

"How long have I been here?" Neji asked.

"A bit over two weeks now," The young woman replied.

"I can't stay here, I've got to go!" Neji replied, struggling slightly. What about his team? What had happened to them?

"I will not allow you to leave, until you have healed properly," Kagome sighed as he continued to struggle. Really, were all men this impossible? A warm hand kept him in place, "Calm down, I'm sure those that you are worried about are good and well. Now go to sleep. I'll be watching over you."

Neji sighed as he looked into her face, he must have been in really bad shape. He was tried just from speaking that small amount. Neji nodded off wondering about the lovely young woman who saved him.

-I'm looking for a second beta reader. Thanks!


	2. Farewells?

I don't Inuyasha or Naruto, they belong Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kishimoto.

Beta:RomanticPrincess

Thank you, Dear!

This chapter has been a grade A-bitch to write, I hope it's enjoyable for all of you, because I felt like I was wading through a hurricane to get it onto FF. Hopefully this doesn't sound to forced, and for those of you who dislike flash backs….there are going to be several in the next few chapters! Hope it turns out alright for everyone, and please review.

Chapter 2

Kagome sighed, it was now nearing the second month that the ninja, Hyuuga Neji had stayed with them at the temple. It had been interesting; apparently Konoha had completely forgotten about the Temple of Fire's children. For coming here was the first time that Neji had even heard of this place, he'd heard and seen of the Fire Lord's men, and temple but it was nothing like this place.

He would be leaving soon and her heart felt as if it would shatter, Kikyo was right in her worry when she had cried that Neji would be stealing Kagome from the temple. While her body would stay, her heart would never remain the same. But she could look over the memories that they had created over the past two months of his rehabilitation, with joy and peace.

Pinching herself lightly, Kagome returned to her meditations, her eyes closed, and her breath deepened. A soft glow seemed to spread around Kagome, as she reached deeper into her soul a fiery combination of colors seemed to swirl and snap around her form.

That's what Neji found, he could feel something in the air inside this chamber were she meditated, but he had never truly understood what was happening. It seemed that all the priests and priestesses did this at least once a day if not more than that, but he couldn't truly comprehend all that was happening when they did this. It felt like chakra, but it was so much more potent and seemed to be almost sentient in the way it would move rippling and waving around the person in question.

Frowning, Neji pushed chakra into his eyes perhaps if he saw what this was with the Byakugan things would be a little different. As his eyesight changed, so did the air surrounding Kagome and left Neji feeling completely confounded he'd never seen anything like it. For one, Kagome's chakra coils….were different, much like Lee's they were twisted and mutilated, but Kagome's seemed to work fine. But the energy inside the coils was completely different than what ninja's used, instead of the blue, or green medical chakra. It was a strange fiery Opal of different colors, laced with silver, and gold marbling, but it had a completely different feel to it than the strange Gold Chakra that Gaara had once held when Shukaku had been held within him, or the vicious Red Chakra that occurred when Naruto used Kyuubi.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked from behind him.

Blinking Neji turned, to look at who was speaking it was Kikyo. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, to have this woman who looked so much like Kagome stare at him with unbridled distain. While he'd stayed here he had often wondered if this was what had angered Naruto when they had fought in their first chunin exam.

"I was curious." Neji finally replied, his Byakugan still in activation as he stared at the brown eyed woman.

Kikyo frowned, marring her pretty face "And this caused you to activate your Kekkei Genkai?"

"Hai, the energy that you and the other occupants of this temple give off is different than the chakra that Ninja use. I wanted to see if Kagome possessed the same chakra coils that I possessed, instead they are very much similar to that of my teammate…in fact from what I've been able to see all the priests and priestesses have these mutated or twisted coils, creating actual coils instead of straight lines or large loops, like a ninja's pathway." Neji stated, he might have been watching Kagome at this particular time, but he'd also watched the others of this temple.

Kikyo blinked in surprise, "And how is the energy or chakra different than that of a ninja's?"

"Well, the energies of this temple are varied, for example there are only two normal colors of chakra the universal blue, or green medical chakra. Then there are mutations of this chakra like the Hatake's white chakra, or "demonic" chakra that comes with being a jinchuriki. But Kagome's is much like a fiery rainbow incased in white, being marbled or threaded by silver and gold. You're energy is much calmer…like a river of natural colors blues, purples, green occasional threaded with red or pink like flowers." Neji finished, as he continued to look at Kagome's energy, it was breath taking.

Kikyo frowned, "Hyuuga-san…what is this chakra made up of?"

"A balance of physical and spiritual energy, why?" Neji finally released his Byakugan to study the woman.

"That might be the reason. We as members of this temple do not manifest physical energy the same way Ninja do, those colors you saw surrounding Kagome and I are overly large manifestations of our souls…" Kikyo answered, it was certainly an interesting topic.

Neji blushed, that was a rather intimate thing to do. At least that was what it felt like to him, it was almost as bad as when Kiba accused him of being a pervert to see through woman's clothing. None of the rookie girls had talked to him for weeks. At least until Hinata returned home from a mission with Naruto, and explained the purposes of being able to do so; that she and Neji like everyone else in there clan could simply find chakra coils without having to go through the clothing. "I see."

Kikyo tried not to smirk at the blush that was covering the man's cheeks, he was so easy to tease and amusing.

Kagome sighed, she always felt rejuvenated when things went well in her meditation, blinking she blushed slightly at the conversation and could almost see her sister's smirk. Sighing, she pushed up from her position to stand behind Neji, before peeking around to see his blush, "What are you to talking about?"

Neji did not visibly jump, but he did internally it was strange how silently and efficiently the people of this temple could move. There was a fluidity to their movement that many lacked, he sighed he was never going to get used to the silence that was here.

"He was looking at your soul, Kagome," Kikyo chimed, before turning to walk away.

Neji's cheeks heated again, it seemed that no matter what he did when Kagome was around his heart seemed to jump faster, while his nerves were set fluttering.

Kagome blinked, that was interesting a bit personal, but interesting all the same "Well, what does, it look like?" A childlike look of curiosity was easily seen on her face.

Neji blinked in surprise, Kikyo had said that simply to make Kagome mad at him she'd done so several times while he'd been there. Thankfully Kagome seemed to take those things with a grain of salt, "It was rather lovely….Much like an Opal marbled with silver and gold."

Kagome smiled happily, a faint blush on her cheeks "That sounds pretty, thank you for telling me." Pecking the man on the cheek she waved, before returning to her duties.

Neji turned abruptly away from the woman, he generally did not blush heavily but being touched by her or kissed by her always sent heat to his cheek, down his throat and to tip of his ears. It was a most uncomfortable feeling, he hated this weakness that made him loose his cool, his control. He hadn't felt this out of sorts since his fight with Uzumaki, admittedly Gai and Lee sometimes made him loose it, but she did it with such little effort it was infuriating.

"Neji, Neji! Neji!" Kagome sighed, he always did this when she touched him, or gave small hints of his affection.

"Hai?"

Kagome sighed, he'd gone off into that thinking area again. She wondered if he ever did this sort of thing on a mission if he did it could get him killed. "Walk with me?"

Neji stared, before nodding glancing at the woman beside him, before he offered his arm. "Where is it you wish to go, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled, taking the arm "I would prefer the gardens, hm?" She asked looking up towards him, a soft smile on her face.

Neji nodded, before looking at her once again. There was tenseness inside her that he'd never seen before, a tinge of sadness in her eyes and smile. It was bizarre; Kagome was one of the few people in his life that refused to bow down to her sorrows and would continue to smile through her uncertainties and fear.

"What is it that bothers you?" He finally asked.

"Do you remember when you woke and found yourself without the Bird Cage Seal?" She asked, amusement sneaking in to her voice.

Neji groaned as he thought about the day, he'd never made such a fool of himself before anyone, not even when Hanabi had snuck into his room while he was sleeping and braided his hair into thousands of small individual braids which had been humiliating and painful.

Kagome could only chuckle softly at the look on his face, he really was an endearing person. He was a person who tried to keep everything locked away, so very controlled of every action that was taken. But there was such strength inside him, even when he had been injured, a person could see the quiet fire that burned so deeply inside him. Kagome smiled as she remembered, she didn't want to admit it but she took a deep pleasure in knocking Neji out of his comfort zone.

_Neji coughed lightly, his ribs still hurt but nothing like they had when he'd first woken up in this strange place. Konshu was very far from where he had fallen, apparently the river had taken him much farther than he had expected._

_"Oh, you're awake again!" A soft voice stated somewhere above him._

_Neji nearly groaned again, his eyes felt swollen and blurry it was such a strange feeling, "Hai," Turning his head, he could once again see the woman who had been taken care of him during his unconscious state._

_"May I ask your name?"_

_"Hyuuga Neji."_

_"I see, may I call you Neji?" Kagome asked._

_"Hai, who are you though?"_

_"Well, I'm simply known as Kagome here, but my surname is Higurashi." A soft smile and glittering blue eyes met his face._

_He couldn't move, but he had to admit that the soft feeling of her fingers upon his cheek sent him into a dreamlike state. "How long will I be here?"_

_"Oh, for a month or two. You've managed to do a large amount of damage to your body. Now, tell me about the seal that was placed upon your forehead." Kagome stated, a rather serious expression on her face. She recognized the basics of the seal, their temple had created it several decades ago to be put upon important runners for the Fire lord. This version was nasty; the ability to turn another's brain into mush wasn't something to be given to another. Then again their version never killed the runner's or damaged the brain it just ensured that it was inaccessible. _

_"It is the bird cage seal, all the branch members of my family have them placed upon their foreheads when they are old enough….Why do you ask?"_

_"Oh, well my sister and I removed it! It had a number of detrimental attributes, that we felt were too dangerous to leave in place!" Kagome smiled, she had a feeling she'd only gotten that much information because he was still disoriented from waking._

_Neji blinked, before a choking laugh escaped his lips, "What a dream," he muttered, loudly enough for Kagome to hear. It was fate that he would be forever cursed with the mark. But that would change for the future generations of Branch members and that was all that really mattered._

Kagome could only chuckle, the next day when he'd been coherent enough to sit up and see his own forehead in the mirror, had been more than amusing.

Kagome smiled, "Good Morning Neji. Do you feel well enough to set up?"

_"Hai." Neji sighed, it would be good to move but it was going to hurt more than he was expecting._

_It took a few minutes between the two of them, to get Neji into a proper sitting position that would ensure that it wouldn't hurt his ribs too much. _

_"Neji, I'll be back with something for you to eat. And something to wash off, hmm?" Kagome asked, a cheery smile on her face._

_"Hai…Thank you." Neji nodded, his head toward her, with that she turned and left the room. Looking about he noticed a large mirror that was seated in front of a small vanity like area that seemed to hold a number of herbs and lotions and creams decorating its top. He felt his eyes widen, it….it hadn't been a dream….it was really gone. He could feel a shock set in, his heart seemed to jump before everything went black._

_Kagome frowned, she'd only been gone for a few minutes when she heard a loud thump pushing the rice paper door open she blinked….what on earth? Did he pass out or faint? Shaking her head at the thought, Kagome put the items down nearby, before grabbing her smelling salts from her vanity waving the salts from side to side._

_Neji groaned….that had hurt the throbbing in his chest was something that he hadn't planned on having to go through. He'd cracked ribs before and this was always the worse part about it, the damn throbbing. A shaking hand moved upward, tracing his forehead once he could feel the chakra circulating just behind the skin inside the tattoo…but it was completely gone, he couldn't even feel any residual chakra._

_"Ne, are you alright?" Kagome asked, looking at the man he was tracing over the now non-existent seal._

_"Hai….So it's really gone?" Neji asked, his voice was trembling a mixture of fear and hope._

_Kagome nodded, "Indeed, no one will be able to put a seal upon you unless you wish it."_

_"I thank you…I never dreamed that would be free." Neji gasped._

_Kagome smiled softly, gently stroking his hair, "That is what this temple was created against, those who are controlled and those who are weak and injured…"_

_"Still, I thank you….it wasn't required." Neji stared at the woman, he wondered if this was the freedom his father felt when he knowingly walked to his death. He was so tired…maybe he would take a small nap…Emotions really wore a person out._

_Kagome's smiled grew in amusement, "Just remember to fly Neji. I believe you're going to need that ability when you return to Konoha." Moving the food and bathing materials, Kagome smile faded before she turned to leave, it would _

"Why are you bringing this up?"

"It's a good memory, it might be a bit embarrassing. But it's something I'll remember." Kagome replied, looking up at him.

Neji asked her in surprise, "Why would you want to remember something like that?" As he continued to look over the garden.

Kagome simply chuckled, before pulling the taller man along with her. This particular garden was a favorite, it was surrounded by tall slender trees that were several meters high, after walking through the field of trees a large pound and river could be seen, there were a number of small oriental bridges that seemed to lead the walker farther and farther away from the main temple. If one continued to follow the small irregular pavers, and bridges they would eventually find themselves at a large ornate pagoda which was surrounded by water. Lily pads and lotus blossoms could be seen floating lazily upon the water; cat tails sprouted around the edges while a number of large koi in an array of fiery colors could be seen swimming lazily in the water.

"Because it's of you." Kagome smiled, out at the world as she sat, enjoying the peace and calm that always seemed to find her at this particular pagoda.

Neji smiled, it was small and nearly invisible, one could miss it altogether if they weren't looking, but it was there. For some it was relatively easy, like his teammates or family, but for the rest of the world it was much like the Hyuuga clan, stoical with very little visible emotion.

"Stay."

Neji's smile faded, "You know I can't," Neji moved, standing behind her he began to stroke her hair, playing with the long raven's black mass that seemed to be never ending. Strong hands continued to move stroking over closed eyes and high cheek bones, before dipping to slim but solid shoulders.

Kagome sighed, "I can dream," her voice was shakier than normal and she was angry with herself for allowing it to be so, she wanted nothing more than for him to remember her as a strong woman. "Will... will you at least spend the rest of your time here with me?" Kagome asked, her own hand covering his as she turned to look up at him.

"Hai," Neji's soft smile returned, before he bent kissing her lightly he could almost feel the light blush running across her cheeks. Pulling away, he pushed forth again kissing her roughly pouring everything into her, picking up her small delicate body he wanted to laugh again when her arms wrapped around his neck in a hurry to keep her balance before he moved her into his lap. Settling on the bench with her in his arms was the best thing he could remember, so soft, sweet and pliant within his grasp.

Kagome gave a contented sigh, as he assaulted her lips she could feel his tongue rub lightly against her bottom lip to ask for entrance into her mouth and she couldn't say no, now could she? Tongues slipped together in an age old battle, while he ran his hand up and down her sides. Contentment settled in her heart, and she knew that when everything was said and done it would be a long time coming before she found happiness without him beside her.

Neji knew this was wrong on a number of levels but he couldn't find it inside himself to feel remorse. This place was fast becoming their own, days after he'd been well enough to walk they'd stolen secret glances, a loving caress and quick feverish kisses all of this had taken place at this particular pagoda. The attraction had been there on his side from the moment those gentle finger tips had awakened him from his injured slumber, the desire to stay, to remain dead to his duty and family it was more tempting than it should ever be.

Neji stood with the trembling woman in his arms, before he left the pagoda, left the tranquil area. What he had in mind had nothing to do with peace, and everything to do with a deep frenzied passion. He would show her that before he left, make sure she understood his love of her, his want and need. When the morning came, two satisfied beings lay in the early light boneless and satiated with their passion.


	3. Hello Again

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha they belong to Masashi Kinimoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN:I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 3

Neji looked back upon his journey home countless times, it hurt. His heart hurt more than he thought it was possible… he was returning to his loved ones but the woman who had captured his heart was going to be separated from him. Certainly the Monks and Priestesses of the temple had invited him back, they had spoken of his kind voice and gentle manner, as if it would be a welcome addition to their folds.

Closing his mind to the thoughts he tried to focus on the things that would more than likely occur when he returned, he knew that he was returning in time for Hinata-chan's wedding and Naruto's inauguration. But what else had he missed while he'd been away? Ino had been close to popping she was so far into her pregnancy, there was little doubt in his mind that she was giving birth soon or had done so within the last few weeks. Then again he didn't see how any woman couldn't burst carrying Akamichi twins.

Lee and Tenten would more than likely be overjoyed as would Gai sensei, though he wasn't sure if he should tell the others about the temple… he wasn't sure that he could trust Konoha with the knowledge of where the temple was located. Then again how would he even get them to allow him through the gates of Konoha? He knew for a fact that his uncle had a large tattoo that covered the span of his arm that told him the status of all branch members.

Looking forward he had to calm himself as he looked at the front gates, it had taken him almost a whole week to return home. He'd forced himself to return home at an insane speed, because if he lingered for two long he was certain that he'd never return to Konoha. Kagome had that strong of a hold upon his heart, and he wasn't the least little bit ashamed.

Izumo felt the blood leave his face, as he looked toward the man in front of him it was someone who was suppose to be dead. Who was suppose to be a decomposing body on the ground, it wasn't possible, "Kotetsu, get an ANBU squad here now."

Kotetsu blinked, wondering what had gotten into his partner, at least until he saw Neji Hyuuga walking around like nothing had happened to him several months after he'd been proclaimed dead. "Hai." The Chunin disappeared from sight.

"I cannot let you pass." Izumo stopped the flow of people into the village, its gates closed while Ninja that walked it's walls for extra protection gathered glaring down at the seal less Hyuuga.

Neji nodded, "I understand."

Izumo blinked in surprise, he'd been expecting some resistance this was just a mellow understanding that seemed to be tinged in sadness. He had to wonder at it, but his thoughts were cut short when instead of an ANBU Team, it was Gai and he looked more than a little enraged.

"Who the hell are you?" Those black eyes seemed to be full of a type of disdainful anger.

"Hyuuga Neji," He responded, but he had to wonder at the anger in the man's eyes.

Gai scowled, "You're not the first person to come thinking they could impersonate my student!"

Neji blinked, and both men were surprised when the "Neji" in question snorted, "As if they could… fate wouldn't allow such nonsense." He was trying not to laugh at the look upon his sensei's face.

Gai nearly face faulted at the response he'd be damned if that didn't sound like his stubborn and stoical student.

"Hyuuga-san… we will escort you to I&T." A voice spoke from behind him, and Neji could feel the tension inside him rise that was Shikamaru's voice!

"Hai, Shikamaru-san." If things were going to be so abysmal he might as well enjoy himself, and he did take a sick pleasure when several chakra pulses seemed to go off signaling surprise. He'd been in ANBU himself, this was part of his two year intermission that was required of all long term ANBU members. So it was interesting to feel the body language that seemed to float around his head.

The run toward ANBU Head Quarters was quiet and full of open ended promises, should he even seem to look at someone the wrong way. Once they finally did arrive he was met with an array of tests that seemed to make his head spin, from blood tests to physicals, there were also several questions about his former missions with his friends throughout Konoha.

Eventually it was confirmed that he was biologically Hyuuga Neji, but this shouldn't be possible at least in the minds of the Hyuuga clan because he didn't have a seal and it sent the shinobi council into an uproar that some outside source would attempt something of this scale… at least it sent the Hyuuga council into an uproar, most of the other clans really didn't give a damn and took and amused pleasure in watching his clan's frustration.

The interrogations, thankfully wasn't given to Anko or Neji would have been forced to hurt the woman. While he would admit she was good at her job he really couldn't stand to be around her for more than it was required.

"Inoichi-san." Neji gave a partial bow toward the blonde Yamanaka, "How is Ino?"

The blonde interrogator blinked, before a slow smile on his face "The babies were born while you were away. But we really do need to know what has happened Neji… a lot of people have been saying a number of things and of course the Hyuuga's are in an uproar considering you don't have a seal anymore."

Neji nodded, he had more questions about Choji's wife and children, but would leave it alone for now. "It all started on the return from the mission I was separated from my team. We had been followed for what seemed like hours and no matter what occurred we simply couldn't shake them. It was almost if they had intimate knowledge of each of us."

Inoichi waited, it was a relief on his part that the younger man was willing to talk… he calmed his mind as Neji continued to talk, "They knew about the defenses and advantages of what each individual on our team could do." It was a subtle comment of a spy or a suicide mission, if either were true there would be hell to pay.

"Either way it wasn't a pleasant mission, just as we were crossing the border of Fire Country out of Taki, we found ourselves surrounded by Iwa-nins. They where bitching about how Taki-nins were always sniffing up Konoha's ass, so I can only assume Taki took out a number of their members. As the fight progressed it became obvious that they were trying to separate us, by the time we realized it was far too late." He rubbed his hands over his face, god he was tired… he'd been forced to sit in the room for close to three hours before Inoichi got here and he'd been traveling since morning to get here he really wanted to sleep.

Inoichi watched the younger man it was obvious that he was rather weary, both mentally and physically "Keep going Neji… just finish and I'll get you a room for the night."

"I think the separate was at about two or three, and I slipped at about eight or nine."

"Slipped?" Inoichi asked.

Neji simply nodded, "I was pushed toward a hill top, and I didn't realize that the "hill" we were nearing happened to have a river running through it. They were aiming toward my head, at the time I didn't think anything of it but they were trying to get at my eyes," Shaking his head in frustration he continued "I was running low on chakra, and the ground gave way beneath my feet I could move and the debris felt down around my head. Several kunai and shuriken followed, eventually it stopped. The water was fast and violent… I hit several of the rocks and trees while in the water… it was so cold. Eventually I lost consciousness and that's when I was found by a Priestess of the Fire Temple."

Inoichi pressed the younger man for more information but no matter what tactic he used, nothing was forth coming about the place he'd been hidden away at for the last three months. Eventually Inoichi gave up specifically when Neji bluntly stated he would tell the Hokage and soon to be Hokage, that he felt uncomfortable with giving away information about the people who saved his live. It would be two days later before, Tsunade and Naruto managed to get to Neji.

"Hey! Neji what is going on! Hinata promised to kill me if you weren't in your apartment by tonight." A loud mouth asked from his right, he'd been kept in one of the housing cells for interrogation.

Neji allowed a small smile to run across his lips, "I couldn't tell them what they wanted to know. I wanted to speak with you and Tsunade-sama about what has happened. If too many people know I fear for the safety of the place that gave me care."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Explain." She commanded before taking a seat in the cell, they weren't horrible but they weren't the most uncomfortable but she had to admit she'd felt relieved and shocked when the blood reports came back as positive. This was Neji Hyuuga and he must have gone a wild damned ride, from what she could tell. Those certainly weren't the clothing he'd left or packed with according to Hinata.

And so for the next two hours he explained his story about meeting the Monks and Priestesses of the Fire Temple, of the very large gap in knowledge of both seals but of the spiritual, and as much information as he gave he refused to reveal some of it. He would not tell them the exact location of the Temple only that it was near Konshu and heavily guarded from those who had the intent to harm. He didn't tell them of Kagome the woman he loved or her amazing strength, and in the end he was relieved and allowed on his way.

What came next was what he was truly dreading, he was almost certain he knew what was going to happen he was called before the Hyuuga council and this was never a good thing even if you weren't a member of the family. Demands and requests were made and he remained silent, only when Hiashi and Hanabi strode in did the complaints stop.

O

It had been a several weeks since the days of hell and he knew that the Hyuuga council was up to no good more specifically his Grandfather, he was a cruel and cold man with little love for anyone. Everything revolved around the clan, and it didn't matter how low the old man had to stop to get something it would happen.

Shortly after his clan interrogation occurred, he'd been forced to move in with Naruto if just to get former branch members off his back. They were angry and happy about the fact that he'd been freed, but that didn't mean that they and the main branch of the family would stop harassing him about one thing or another.

But this day was a day that he was allowed to forget everything, Hinata was getting married and it was honestly something to be proud off. While she walked down the row he could only grin from Naruto's side of the pews of the Western styled church, while the Namikaze-Uzumaki might not of had any living blood relatives he had made up for it by taking brothers and sisters of the heart.

Naruto was standing at the front of the church with Iruka as his best man, while Shikamaru, Lee, and Konohamaru stood in for grooms. Hinata on the other hand had selected Hanabi as her Maid of Honor while Temari, Tenten and Moegi were her brides maids, the music began to flow at a slower pace the atmosphere began to tremble with excitement. You could see delight on the faces that were around them, and the whole church was pack with members of friends and family.

Neji could only watch while a type of excitement as he watched one of his baby cousin's get married and cheered along with the others. The reception on the other hand was something he hadn't quiet expected, "Soo, how do you like being in Konoha after you're extended break?" Temari asked, a slightly amused expression on his face.

Neji rolled his eyes, as he looked at the friends he'd collected over the years. "Loud… it's surprisingly quiet there… I had only returned for two days before I was allowed to see both Tsunade and Naruto at once."

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" Naruto pouted, while his new wife just giggled in amusement.

Choji chuckled softly, "So are you going to move out now that the newlyweds are about?"

Neji nodded in agreement, "Already have." He didn't want to be around either of them, he knew that the two of them were perverts thought Hinata would never admit it.

Ino chuckled softly, "Neji, will you hold Chouko? I need to run the restroom and I'm not sure I trust the rest of these goofs." Smiling happily when he nodded, she simply handed him the little girl before taking off at a brisk pace leaving the men of the table blinking at her retreating form.

Choji grinned, he was quiet proud of his offspring and a little surprised that it was he and Ino that were the first of their group that would have children. "Neji, do you ever think about marriage, or children?"

Neji sighed, the others had taken on to another conversation and for that he was glad Choji and perhaps Shikamaru or Shino were the only ones he would willingly share his heart with. "I doubt I shall ever marry. I believe my heart was left at the shrine." There was a weak smile on his lips.

Choji frowned, "Neji… if you are to be unhappy here perhaps you should return. You completed your duty by returning and informing the village of what has happened and reminded us of something that never should have been forgotten."

Neji nodded, he was conflicted still his home was here in Konoha were he'd been raised and loved by his mother and to an extent his father.

Ino blinked, she'd listened to the conversation, "I wanna know more about the woman who managed to steal your heart."

Neji blushed, adjusting the sleeping child in his arms Choji was holding the little girl's male counterpart and they both looked exactly like Ino. It was a little scary and he hoped they took after Choji personality wise, "Hmm… I don't know where to start."

The blonde woman nearly rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Well, how did you meet?"

Neji snorted, "Didn't really meet… she found me when she was getting ready to take a bath by the river I had fallen into. She found me on the banks and took me back to the temple."

Choji gaped, "How big is this woman? Or strong I guess… if you were dead weight…" That had Tsunade quality type strength written all over it.

"No, nothing like that… the temples' people have a contract with these two tailed cats, they call them demons… or Nekomata, the people care for them and the cats help them… it reminds me of summoning contracts to me… to be honest." Neji shrugged, he'd gotten more comfortable with talking about the temple in the month he'd been home. Mainly because both Naruto and Tsunade had bluntly refused to go against the Fire Temple, the message from the Daimyo who had heard of the shinobi council's scheming and had politely told them if someone so much as got nicked by a shuriken or kunai he would raze Konohagakure to the ground had a lot to do with those ideas being put out.

"Hmmm that would be useful, so she managed to get you back." Ino tapped, her lip watching with the eyes of a knowing mother when her daughter gave a contented little sigh and wrapped a tiny hand around one of Neji's long locks.

"She is an amazing woman." Neji continued to smile, one finger lightly rubbing over Chouko's little hand. The baby gurgled before wrapping her free hand around the knuckle to gnaw on.

"I think you're love struck." Tenten spoke up, she'd started listening in when Neji implied he had indeed left a woman at this mysterious temple.

"That wouldn't be to hard… she is a beautiful inside and out." Neji replied, smoothly in response to Tenten's prodding. They had enjoyed each other's affection as teenagers but now they were older it sometimes became tense while they were in the same room with each other.

Ino nearly jumped on the juicy gossip with a squeal but Choji's large hand on her knee managed to keep her calm enough to ask more without sounding like the crazy loveable woman that she was. "So what's her name what does she look like?"

"Kagome, she's a tiny woman. A good inch or two shorter than Hinata… I've never seen a woman who wore her hair as long as that besides her twin, while her eyes are a deep lake blue." Neji paused as if trying to think of the best way to describe the woman he adored. "Her skin is a soft brown, but it's from always being in the sun because she can't stand not being outside on a warm summer day. Her eyes are large and they seem to tell you everything that you need to know about her. Kagome is pretty young but I would bet she's going to get little laugh lines because it's almost impossible to catch her without a smile…"

Both Ino and Choji shared a look, he was completely and utterly in head over his heels in love with her and it would only be a matter of time before he had to go back because he couldn't stand being away from her anymore, "She sounds like a wonderful person, Neji! You should see if she can visit! Konoha doesn't have anything against visitors." Ino grinned, when a violent blush appeared on his face. Even Tenten seemed surprised and amusingly enough pleased with that reaction, though all three of them had to wonder at the blush. What exactly had the two of them been doing at the shrine? Well they could bug him about it later.

"You know you look pretty comfortable with a baby," Tenten looked over her friend and old flame. The child was just happily content sitting in his lap gnawing on his finger and holding onto his hair.

Neji snorted, "Parents make a baby happy… I doubt I'm the one with the magical parenting skills." He could help but roll his eyes at the idea, then again thinking about children just made him think more about Kagome, which in turn sent his heart to aching. A soft tapping on his shoulder caught his attention, "Ah, Hinata-chan."

"You did promise me a dance didn't you?" Hinata smiled softly, she'd changed out of the tradition clothing into something a little more festive.

"Hai, I did." Handing the little girl back to her mother, he nearly laughed when Chouko started whimpering. Apparently she liked pretty boys just like her mother, shaking the thoughts from his head he had to smile as he pulled Hinata close enjoying the fact that he was home and having a certain relief off his shoulders that both Lee and Tenten had come home safe and sound.

The dance was short but the two cousin's chatted happily over the noise, before Naruto came to steal his wife back. At this point he was more than a little ready to call it a night and return to his new apartment which was outside the Hyuuga clan complex. Looking back toward the festivities he found himself frustrated with everything that had happened so far in his life. It was bizarre and awkward and it seemed that it was how his life would always be.

Closing his eyes, he made his way toward his bed. He might as well sleep it off, removing his formal wear he let it drop to the floor until he was in nothing, that was something that had surprised Kagome more than once. Walking in on his nude form she'd yelped embarrassed at the sight, eventually she'd started yelping because he'd pull her down onto his futon to bury himself inside her tight body.

Forcing the thoughts from his minds he laid down in his bed, before finally allowing himself to calm down allowed his mind to stop and his body to still. It didn't take long for him to fade away into the darkness of his mind, the worse part about sleeping here in Konoha is he almost always woke up away from Kagome with the dreams he'd been having recently he'd been desperately wishing that she was in his arms when he awoke.

O

O

_Raven black hair spread across the sheets and pillows swallowing the light that was left in the day, blues eyes stared into pupiless white shadowed with lavender returned the stare, his was hot and wanting… begging to continue what had been started in the gardens earlier in the day before they had been interrupted by her sister._

_A breathy acceptance left her lips, and she felt a brilliant heat run across her skin as his hands slipped over her body with a slow tender care that shouldn't be allowed by his blood stained hands. His lips grazed over her cheeks before slowly making their way toward her lips, the kisses were slow and soft. He knew that she was nervous, this would be a first for her… and it aroused him to know that she'd never been touched by another man, never shown interest in another man._

_He pulled at the strings of her Hakamas and lapels of her Kosode… he tugged gently, pulling the garments away leaving her in nothing but the light Han-Juban most women wore beneath kimono's and beneath that the thick fabric used to bind her breast and a modern pair of panties that he planned to poke fun at. _

_Long fingers found the swollen bud straining and pushing against the well fitting undergarments and he could only chuckle, nibbling on her bottom lip. The fabric began to become moist and a surge of male pride and lust seemed to hit him hard, pulling away he could only give that small smile at the dazed look of pleasure that covered her face. _

_Tugging lightly at the rough fabric that covered her breasts he could only give a purr of accomplishment, when the full plump mounds were released from there confines bouncing lightly with freedom. A hot wet mouth covered one peak, before the mouth began to move sucking roughly, before he began to create a path of red marks from her neck and back to the bottom of her breast. A hand cupped the other, fingers ran from top to bottom, from side to side before they began to need the dusky pink nipple that was straining into a painfully tightened peak._

_A grumble of satisfaction seemed to rumble from his throat at the fingers playing with the swollen nub beneath her panties which began to become drenching wet, and he simply wanted to touch what he was sure was delightfully pink flesh. Pulling roughly a smug grin would have been seen on his face, the light cotton fabric was easy for him to rip with a small amount of chakra added to his touch._

_Her soft gasp, made him chuckle before his mouth covered hers again, tongue thrusting forward to taste and touch. "Neji…" His name of her voice full of passion, it was something that he would carry inside his heart for what seemed like ever after._

_Slowly a finger slipped into the soaking slit, his palm was pressed roughly against her clit while she squirmed and cried out for him to continue and stop his administrations. A second finger pushed forward into the tightness, causing an amazing friction and pleasure to erupt in the pits of her belly. Soft mews and pants were emptied from her mouth as he prepared her body. _

_He could feel her hot calloused hands pushing away his own open top, before they raised down his back forcing the clothing away to push at the loose Hakamas that he wore. He only chuckled, as her hands touched his nudity, his ass was bare and his rod was free of the confines of the loose pants. Her inexperienced hands wrapped around his length she seemed mesmerized by its length and thickness, before slowing as it neared its base to continue on to stroke and explore the heavy weight of his balls._

_Her soft tinkling of laughter, was followed by his own hiss of pleasure at her touch he demanded that she stop… she simply smiles pulling his figure down against her body completely flush, and he knows she's taking some personal pleasure in having their bodies pressed so intimately together. Their lips meet again as he shifts and her thighs wrap around his waist. _

"_Are you sure?" Their eyes meet again and he's graced with that smile so full of love he has to wonder if it's really for him, and does she understand he's a cold bastard that doesn't really deserve someone like her in his life. Her lips caressed his and he slipped forward pressing pass a still intact Hymen, he could feel her stiffen as he continued to push forward to fully seat himself inside her body._

"_Hurts…"_

"_I know," Neji kissed her softly trying to get her mind away from the pain, it was almost painful for him as well feeling her contract and squeeze at his length. Stroking her body with fervor, he kissed down her chin and neck, before he began to move inside her. Slowly their movements began to build, never becoming fast or violent her whimpers of pain became gasps of pleasure._

_Moving slightly he pushed his knees beneath her lower back, and he could only chuckle as the bottoms of her feet began to press against his ass, urging him to go at a faster pace and he could only comply when she began to use her legs to meet his thrusts. He could only watch her face, it was beautiful… that dark flyaway hair resting across her breasts and some was plastered to her cheeks because of a thin layer of sweat. Her breasts bounced lightly every time they thrust together and it pleased him to see her hands twist the sheets, as she began to gasp and beg. She really didn't understand what her body was doing, that quick clenching and quivering muscles, her low long cry made him grin as he joined her spilling over the edge. He chuckled at the small sound she made when his seed spilled into her body, she looked up at him and smiled and he knew he would never love another woman._

Neji awoke gasped for air his chest heaving there was a pain there aching for her, aching to return to the place he'd found peace. Four months… it had been a total of four months since he'd seen Kagome, and he'd had the same dream every night or some variation of it. Four month of missions that he really couldn't find any pride in, four months of a loneliness he'd never expected to feel. Part of the loneliness came from his clan, he'd been exiled… in fact his grandfather had tried to have him executed for betrayal of the clan.

Thankfully Hanabi had managed to get Hinata and Naruto before anything more had happened, and he'd felt fear in his heart that day. Naruto was most civilian members of Konoha a bumbling cheery man that everyone was pleased to have as a Hokage. He became a deadly and terrifying force when his smile disappeared behind a thin disapproving frown and eyes that seemed as if they were made of ice, it made everyone understand why he was considered the strongest nin in Konoha. He'd ever so politely told Hizaima his grandfather that if he ever so much as tried to lay a hand on one of his ninja without his consent he'd kill him. Of course his grandfather hadn't taken that well, and tried to explain it was in Clan laws... Naruto had sent the old man a cruel smile, and informed the old man that disobeying him was considered treason and he couldn't wait for bastard to slip and fall.

He'd been pulled from the floor and taken from the household of his childhood, he knew the rumors and speculation had flown across Konoha like no tomorrow. By the time he was allowed to return to the new apartment Naruto had for him after the trail, the Hyuuga reputation was being torn to shreds by his enraged friends… and he didn't try to stop them.

Pushing the thoughts away he stripped, then dealt with his not so little problem while taking his morning shower. After finishing he dressed as per-normal and found himself wondering the streets of Konoha lost in a haze of memories, he was eventually shaking from his thoughts by Hinata.

"Neji… what are you doing?" Hinata asked softly a slightly concerned look on her face. Kiba had sent her a message saying Neji had been walking around Konoha like he was lost with this broken look on his face. Then again she had to agree, her cousin hadn't looked happy since coming back to Konoha.

"Hmm… thinking about all the memories that have occurred here..." _And if I really want to stay..._ he thought silently.

"Neji… you're not happy here anymore… please speak with Naruto about leaving." Hinata smiled, when her cousin blinked in surprise.

He stilled, "Hai…" Maybe he should talk to Naruto about what was going on but it felt like something else was going there was an undercurrent in Hinata's voice that said it was something like Naruto WANTED to speak to him. The question is what was it about?

Frowning, Neji found himself walking toward the Hokage's tower with every intention on finding out exactly what was going on. As he made his way past, the guards and up to the top floor of the tower he felt his eyebrow twitching by the time he'd arrived, three people had scolded him for making Naruto wait and he was bound to hit someone if they didn't leave him alone!

"Naruto… what the hell is going on?" Neji asked, he was close to infuriated.

Naruto grinned amused he'd told all the members of his staff to harass his friends, it drove Kiba nuts and Ino would usually yell at him so it got the desired effect. "Ohh nothing much, just enjoy annoying my friends."

Neji face faulted… it was just such… such a Naruto thing to do, "Do you annoy the elders this way?"

"Yeah… it drives Koharu and Homura nuts… but I'm waiting for them to kick the bucket anyway so it doesn't really matter." Naruto grinned, when both elders walked in with frustrated and annoyed expressions on their faces, Tsunade was laughing like a loon as she followed. "But the real reason that we've called you here is because of the Hyuuga clan elders."

The three elders took seats around the Hokage and Neji sighed before settling in front of the desk to wait for the information to unfold. "Basically, according the Hiashi two branch members notable Ko and Tokuma were killed on a mission a month ago. The problem with that… there isn't a record of either taking on a mission. When Homura probed Hiashi further he simply handed him this scroll saying that he could speak no more for fear of what the elders would try to do."

Homura had a large scowl on his face, "Yes, basically Hizaima didn't take it very well that your seal was removed and in his rage killed four branch members before they forced the man to calm down. Afterward he assigned, Ko and Tokuma this mission."

Neji felt his heart grow cold, it was an assassination mission to kill everyone of the temple, and collect some of the women for their information in sealing. Kagome was in trouble, and yet he knew Ko and Tokuma both were kind and gentle much like Hinata they were the two worse members to send on a mission like this. They only way they would have preformed is if something was held over their head. "He's probably holding their family members hostage."

Koharu nodded, "That's what we believe, Daimyo-sama wasn't pleased and almost asked us to eradicate the Hyuuga clan. The main house members have become selfish and foolish."

Tsunade scowled, "Thankfully he was convinced after looking at the Uchiha clan and Sasuke that it wasn't the best of ideas. As such we would like you to check in on the temple to ensure everything is in order. There was also another request… that the Temple of Fire revive the Temple of Leaves…. we are unsure of this request. But this scroll was asked to be delivered to Grand Master Hishiro."

Neji blinked, "Hai." He was in a bit of a daze and he wasn't certain what he was going to do. They just gave him a mission to return to the place he loved to the woman he loved and it would be torture to leave once again. Closing his eyes, he stood before bowing he would not show his sorrow in this office he was a ninja of Konohagakure.

The four members watched him leave, "Do you think he realizes how depressed he is?" Naruto finally asked, looking at the closed door. As much as he tortured his ninja, making them do silly things so he could get a break from paperwork, or yelling at Genin to put the fear of God into the bratty ones.

Tsunade sighed, "What in the world made you decide to go about it this way?" Both Homura and Koharu looked interested in that particular answer as well.

"There are several reasons, One. I made a promise to two Hyuuga genins' that I would change the fate of the Hyuuga clan. The second… when I was a child… just a monster in the eyes of the civilians, I ran across holy ground at first it was painful because I was scared and hurt from a beating by one of the crueler members of society. I eventually realized it was a temple, and there were holy inscription upon the walls following a tail of how the members were run out of Konoha because the Hyuuga clan went back on their word. Tatari is coming and I hope to stay the hand of Amaterasu." Naruto replied, his eyes blank a cold look in them.

"How do you know that? " Koharu asked.

"Kyuubi has been shaking with fear for the past several months, ever since Neji returned from the Temple of Fire. Leave… I'll tell you more of it at a later date." Naruto waved his hands, before creating two Kage Bushin to help him complete and finish the paper work. Hopefully this would appease the Gods who'd been ignored for so long.

O

Neji sighed, as he gathered his things and change of clothing, and weapons. Closing his eyes he took off he wouldn't dare tell his friends he was returning he could only imagine Tenten's scowl, and Ino's squeal of pleasure. Shuddering, he didn't turn back to see the gates closing behind him nor did he know that Naruto was watching with Hinata in his lap. Both of them were worried for more so than they had admitted to their friends.

As the days passed and he moved deeper and deeper into the area around Konshu he could easily see signs of battle. Arrows and kunai littered the grounds and worry filled his heart, pushing chakra into his legs he swore as rain began to poor down around his head. Minutes passed before he found his eyes tracking the movement of a human figure, he could also sense something familiar.

The closer he got to the figure the more his heart began to thud in his chest, it was her. "Kagome," Suddenly his arms were full of the woman he had longed for, he found himself pulling her close running his hands over her body, touching her hair and face.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would never return." Kagome asked, she would not protest his touch and she was more than happy to be able to snuggle into his embrace, her questions were dismissed before his lips locked with hers.

"Mission… they wanted to ensure that the temple was safe… an act of treason occurred…" He muttered against her lips, before his mind focused on making her moan. When he achieved his goal, he managed to pull himself together to hold her tightly and bury his face in her hair.

Kagome simply nodded, she'd be shocked and delighted when she'd felt his essences coming closer and closer to the temple. No one had gotten in her way or even tried to stop her when she told them she was returning to the one she loved. She yelped when her legs were pulled into the air, and Neji cradled her like she was the most precious item in his life.

Neji just grinned, at her surprise before stealing fast quick kisses as he made his way toward the temple. His only question was should he deliver the scroll or have his way with the woman he loved.


	4. Going Home

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, they belong to Kishimoto and Takahashi respectively. I'm doing this for the enjoyment of the readers.

I was asked about ages in a review for those wondering here ya go.

Lee,Neji,Tenten-24

Shikamaru, Naruto, ect-23

Kikyo, Kagome-21

Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon-19

Rin-16

**I'm so sorry that this took so long to get up and there shall hopefully be more updates in the future and a much faster pace at least until school starts up again.**

Chapter 4

Neji smirked as he laid across the woman that he loved, they had been having sex more often than not. Since he had returned to the temple he had not wanted to leave her and had spent most of his time by her side. It had made him ache deeply inside his chest while in Konoha, it was a relief to be back in her arms. It wasn't about sex no matter how much Tenten had claimed it was, it was being able to hold on to her during the night or walk through the gardens or playing with the children or nekomata of the shrine. It wasn't perfect and they had their arguments, he'd never thought himself to be romantic or soft but she brought something out that could never be reburied.

"Heeeavy." She whined lightly, pushing down on her knees so she could lay more comfortably against the futon that had seen several of their vigorous sessions. Eventually he shifted drawing her close and spooning her form as they lay on their sides.

"I love you so much….too much." Neji muttered into her hair. He'd been dreaming about her for months in Konoha, and in the last two weeks that he'd been at the temple they had been going at it like rabbits at the coming of the next great extinction. He looked down at her, when she shifted rolling in his arms to look up into his eyes.

"I love you to….even if you do wear me out." Kagome grinned, and it just seemed to grow when the kiss they shared became soft and gentle. She loved it when he was rough but she also adored it when they settled like this during the nights, when she was simply held and she could cuddle up in his arms as if there was no tomorrow.

"Come back with me to, Konoha." Neji looked down at the little woman in his arms, she was so small. So delicate, almost fragile in appearance he sometimes had to remind himself that he should have more control during sex. But it seemed that every time he tried she would know and do her damnedist to make him lose all sense of himself. Kissing her forehead, he could feel her shuddering as if this was something that might tear them apart. He could do little more than tighten his arms around her small form and rub let his hands run over her bare delicate back.

Kagome looked up at the man who'd just spent the last hour making her scream herself nearly hoarse, before just pressing her face against his chest. His eyes always seemed to swallow her whole, and it took her breath away at the love in those pale calm eyes. The need there, he would do anything for her and that she knew it. He had spoken of leaving Konoha and returning to her, but they both knew that his clan would never allow it and the thought of what the Cloud ninja's would do if they knew that an unmarked Hyuuga was living at the temple terrified them all.

"Neji…you know that the Master is thinking about reopening the temple in Konoha. If I am not one of the ones selected to go, I will resign from the order and come with you." It was a heart breaking thought at least to her anyway, the temple was her home and had been for years it was the place of dreams and hopes. And if she were honest with herself, going to Konoha a place where blood was shed and children were taught to kill…it terrified her.

Neji felt himself freeze, they hadn't ever spoken about her resignations from the temple. To do so would be forsaken the promises that she had given, that had been made and was a form of great shame for those who left the temple. "No, Kagome.." Neji could only look at her in surprise, when gentle finger tips touched his lips quieting his protest.

"You are my heart, and I do not wish to live without it any longer. My family here is small, you talk of your friends and comrades as family. And it is a much larger family than this, if they are yours than they will be mine as well." Kagome smiled, before happily kissing her lover on the lips. The movements of his lips against hers slow, easy and lazy, made her body churn with blood, the thought of him had her sticky thighs aching for more. His chuckled, at her protest of stopping which made her pout. When she was lifted away to bathe, there wasn't any protest even if she couldn't persuade him into another round of sex, it didn't mean she would play nicely. She had every intention of making him scream just as loudly as she did earlier, she almost felt sorry for her lover when he finally noticed the glint in her eyes and the movements of her mouth and hands. By the time they both stumbled back to her room, they both simply passed out on her futon they would deal with the repercussions in the morning.

o

"It's been a long time since you've been here? Hyuuga-san," A deep voice seemed to smile at him from behind his back and it was all that Neji could do not to send a Jyuken strike to the man's solar plexus. The older man was a monk by the name of Miroku and he was going to become the next Master after the current Head Hishiro.

"Yes, it has…is there something I can help you with?" Neji had to keep a straight face at least as far as Miroku was concerned. The man could get secrets out of person faster than anyone from the T&I division of Anbu could ever thing of. Miroku had a way of putting people at ease before he started asking questions that generally didn't seem to revolve around the particular topic. After a while he would put the questions together getting masses of information from people, it wasn't hard for Neji to believe that the man had once been a con artist before he was roped into becoming the next Master for the temple.

Miroku grinned, the ninja wasn't tense but he was weary which was actually very smart for the man. He'd been at the Shrine for nearly three weeks while Kikyo and Kagome had been working on both Ko and Tokuma. Both men were now sealless while Naruto had been raiding the Hyuuga compound several clan members were under arrest and his grandfather was in hiding. In fact the whole Hyuuga compound was currently in lock down, and Miroku was rather curious about when the Hokage would allow the Hyuuga men back home. " Well, Hishiro-sama wants to see you." The fact that Neji was frowning, just made his day. He wouldn't admit it but he rather enjoyed making people extremely uncomfortable.

Neji nodded, before turning he had an idea about what the Master of the temple wanted. His real objective had been giving the scroll from the Hokage to Hishiro-sama, it had taken a day or two for him to manage to disengage himself from Kagome long enough to give the elder the small scroll. Opening his eyes, he could feel the veins bulging around his eyes before finding the elderly man out in the garden.

Turning around, the Hyuuga could only sigh it was nerve racking he wasn't sure he would be able to survive without his lover again. He knew that he loved Kagome, and coming back just made him more aware of this. Once he arrived in the gardens he could only study the older man, he wasn't very tall and wore his robes in a very pristine manner.

"Good. Do you know why I have called you hear today?" The old man asked, his voice low and deep, though amusement seemed ot tinge his words. Once the elderly man turned back to look upon his person, he was surprised to find a delighted sparkle in his eyes.

"I have an idea, Hishiro-sama." Neji replied, looking at the calculating gleam in the man's eyes. He knew this was in congruency with the revival of the Leaf Temple.

"Did you know that most Kekkei Genkai, are gifts from the heavens above? From Amaterasu, Izanami, Inari? That once upon a time, the gods, and demons walked freely among man?" The older man paused, walking forward to brace himself at the railing. Old weary eyes looked over the gardens with a careful eye. "Then the gods and some demons took upon themselves the protection of certain clans who showed great promise, and so gifted them in return for proper attributions. The Hyuuga clan is descended from one of these people. All they asked for in return was to be worshiped and remembered….for in the land of gods a name is above all simply power."

Neji stared at the older man with a calculated glen in his eyes, yes indeed that was something all ninja clans would wish to hide. That was something the Hyuuga clan would run the temple holy men and women away from Konoha, they would not want to be reminded of the fact that this wasn't just something that they deserved by right of birth. He could vaguely remember his father instructing him to have the sun goddess's emblem on all his weapons once he grew up, he of course did so in remembrance of his father. Over the years several strange things had happened to children his age in the household, to the point that there were very few children in the Hyuuga clan at all. He was one of the few that nothing had happened to, Amatersu more than likely only spared him for the blood upon his blades. They could loosely be considered an offering though a paltry one at that.

"What was done to the people of the Leaf temple was nothing short of a massacre….as such if I allow my children to restart the temple, will you be willing to protect them?" The elderly man asked, "Would you be willing to quit being a ninja if I sent Kagome to Konoha, to ensure that she would be safe?"

Neji's eyes widened at the thought, he love Kagome more than himself and would do just about anything in his power to keep the small woman safe. "I would prefer to speak with Kagome about such matters." He didn't want to force Kagome into anything, though he would be quite happy to leave the ninja corps. He could only think about the conversation that they had shared nearly a week ago. She'd been under the impression that she wouldn't be allowed to leave with him so was this the condition?

The old man turned back toward Neji and the young ninja could feel his insides freeze the look in his eyes were cold and had a calculating look in them, as if to say that he couldn't get away with anything. "I need to know that the people of my shrine will be protected Hyuuga-san. I remember when my people were run out of Konoha. I have lived a long life, I once dreamed of being a ninja. Back then it was acceptable for children of the shrines to join the ninja corps, and once they retired they returned and took up the scripture. Speak with me again, after you have talked with Kagome." The elderly man simply waved his hand, there was another reason he was uncomfortable with sending his children into danger.

He could understand that he had been dismissed and felt the need to run away, far away. There had been an intensity and anger at what his clan had done and it confounded him, made him wonder what else his family had covered up. He knew from what had been released about the Uchiha clan in the last few years that even their own village could be considered the enemy. They had tried to hide it, but the rumors still danced across the air whenever Koharu and Homura walked into any of the meetings. He knew for a fact that Naruto didn't tell them anything that could be considered national security, Neji was almost sure Naruto had meant it quite literally that he was waiting for them to die.

Shaking his head at the thoughts, he turned on his heal to leave sometimes he just needed a moment to himself. As much as he enjoyed the shrine and the general quietness there were times when the place was busy, almost to the point that he felt that he was right back in the hustle and bustle of Konoha. Looking through the woods he could only sigh, the Hyuuga clan had the most strict and archaic as such. One such reason was that those seated on the Hyuuga council were just that, as old as the laws they tried to instill. Most of the clan besides the head elders were of a much more progressive mind, the fact that the first heiress apparent had married out of the clan was a good first start. Hinata was as happy as could be and he wouldn't be surprised if she gave Naruto a child in the near future.

"Neji?" A soft voice broke his train of thought, looking back he was surprised to find one of the younger shrine maidens behind him. It was one of the younger maidens, a girl by the name of Rin she had been abandoned on the temple steps nearly. She was a sweet girl with soft white skin smattered with freckles because of her love of the sun. Her hair and eyes were both a shade of chocolate something he was sure would draw her many admirers good and bad if she were to live in a town. She still had a childlike quality about her that drew people to her, much like Naruto she was an eternal optimist looking for the best in any given situation. She was the only child her age at the temple the rest were either much younger children or much closer to Kagome or Kikyo's age.

"What is it Rin?" Neji finally asked, she'd started to fidget which wasn't that surprising the girl couldn't keep still if she tried, even the few times he'd seen her in meditations she'd seemed to have an energy around her that wasn't quiet natural.

Rin sighed, once the ninja was focused on her she wanted nothing more than to run away. She wasn't a shy person by nature but this man was much like one of the Lord's that patronized the shrine in the fact that he seemed very stern, or maybe it was strict? If it was up to Shippo he would simply say the older man had a stick up his ass but she didn't think that was so. There was a strange control about him that seemed wrong for someone of Amaterasu , she was the goddess of the sun as such she brought happiness to the land. Neji always seemed to have an air of sadness around him but it seemed to be leaving him the more time he spent with Kagome.

"Why are you always sad?" Rin finally asked, she knew that many of the ninja's that had come to the shrine had horrible stories that followed them were ever they went. Neji spoke of his cousins and friends, but in comparison the rest of the family he refused to speak of. It was as speaking of them would break his heart.

Neji let hooded look fall across his face, how did you answer that sort of question, "I'm not sure how to answer that Rin. I'm not so much sad as I have a lot of things on my mind." And he did, did he really want to give up his ninja career? But was he willing to remove himself from Kagome? He knew that she would give up the temple if it meant returning with him, was he willing to make the same sacrifice? If you would have asked him that ten years ago it would have ultimately been a yes, he had not truly wanted to be a ninja as a child. But it had been expected of him and so he had done what all the branch family did and became a guard for the main family. But over the years and with the change in the relationship between himself and his uncle's children, he had come to have pride in what he did. He protected those dear to him and his home. Sighing again, he looked toward the younger girl she seemed like she was on the edge of asking another one of those very inflective questions and he felt the sudden need to get away.

"I'll be at the river…" Neji murmured quietly, slipping away from the young woman's protest. That was where he'd been found wasn't it, he never had gone back to see the place that Kagome found him. Then again, between the human's and cats there really hadn't been much time. Many of the temple residents took a semi-long journey to bath on a regular basis, but this was usually in the mornings. On occasion, Kikyou had spoken about a different type of meditation and he had yet to see the smaller waterfall they rested beneath. It also made him understand his friend, Lee's body a bit better. If Lee was part of one of the families that had managed to survive the massacre then it would explain the toughness of his body without the use of chakra.

Looking up he found himself were he stated he planned on going, this little alcove was small and not extremely deep but it did was it was supposed to. It often times made Neji wonder at the fact that the people of this temple didn't simply pull water from the well much closer to the temple, but no they came here to bath. He had to wonder how Kagome would react to a steady stream of hot running water, he knew that was one of the things that she seldom let herself enjoy.

Shivering, he settled at the bank closing his eyes and crossing his legs he allowed himself to relax. There was a large barrier around this place and he was certain the first time he'd come the only reason he managed to make it through the barrier was because he'd been unconscious. The thing that the inhabitants had created was almost a thing that had a mind of its own, if you had ill intentions for anyone then it automatically moved into a defensive position. It created a simulated battle very much like genjutsu and usually by the time someone realized what was happening it was too late they were already captured or knocked unconscious and dropped miles away from the temple.

He sometimes wish that something like this was in Konoha but then half the merchants and more than a fair share of the ninja wouldn't be allowed to return home. It had a naivety to it that didn't suit the bloody world he lived in, if it had been a Ninja village the offender would be interrogated and depending on the response several things could happen. Which brought him to yet another subject, could he bring Kagome into his would of bloodshed and selfishness?

Shuddering at the thought, he nearly jumped out of his skin when warm arms wrapped around his neck from behind. This was followed by a the feeling of a female form pressed against his back, he could feel a plump softness and knew that her cheek was resting against the back of his head. He could feel the movement of her jaw as she began to speak, "You know, I wish you would talk to me sometimes instead…instead of going off on your own to work things out."

The heavy sigh that followed this statement, just seemed to waver between them before she slipped down her arms wrapping around his waist and simply leaned against him. It was a comfort to him, he couldn't remember the last time before he meet Kagome that he was touched as an affectionate gesture. Such things weren't welcome in the Hyuuga household and after his mother's death during his 9th year, such small touches and whispers of affection and comfort had disappeared from his life. If this was what he was getting in return for removing himself from his ninja life he was certain that he could live with that.

"Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

Neji could only smile at the vibrations against the back of his chest, "How does one become the master of a temple?"

"What?" Kagome was more than a little startled at the question, why in the world would he want to know such a thing?

Turning around, "There is compromise in everything isn't there?"

"Hyuuga Neji! What in the world are you talking about?" Kagome demanded before she was yanked up from the ground to follow an almost prancing Neji. She had no idea what had gotten into him, but he sounded happy with whatever revelation that he's managed so she could live with that.

Neji could only nod to himself, if he couldn't be a ninja then he would learn another skill. He was far from stupid he could learn a new skill, he could be something more than what had been set before him at birth. That was what he had told Naruto wasn't it? That a bird cage could never fly?


	5. Behind the Lines

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha.

This is unbetaed but I tried my best feel free to point out any flaws and I hope that this makes up for the prolonged silence.

Chapter 5

It had been a month since he'd been in Konoha with his family and friends. It had been a month in time, that talks between the Fire Lord, the Head of the Shrine and the Hokage had been going back and forth. And he was home, Kagome was literally walking around his apartment looking through everything like the curious woman that she was. Most of the others had gone to the apartments that had been set aside for the new temple population. For the most part the temple was being returned to what it once was. Most of the cleaning had been finished, but there were things inside the temple that they couldn't get to without a key.

That key just so happened to belong to the members of the Fire Temple, and the Leaf Temple was simply waiting to be awakened once more. Most of the ninja's of the village didn't understand, but the civilians those who remembered the priestesses, and priests were eager with something the ninja's of Konoha couldn't understand.

"You really are a curious being." Neji spoke softly, his hip resting against the edge of his couch. She was still looking through things but she seemed to be looking more deeply. The smile that was flashed his way made his heart flutter, before he moved long sweeping steps pulling the woman away from his knickknacks and photos. His apartment really wasn't that large, a simple one bed room, and bathroom with a conjoined living room and kitchen. It suited his needs, the bedroom and bathroom could be found down the hall way just a little bit away from the kitchen and living room.

Kagome pouted up at her lover, her bottom lip dropping just a bit with a completely innocent look on her sweet face. The amusement that was easy to see dancing in his eyes made her laugh before she simply wrapped her arms around his waist, it made her happy to be with him to be able to see him on a regular basis. When his arms wrapped around her shoulders, she could only sigh content to simply rest. This was something they had both come accustomed to while at the Fire Temple, simply holding one another. She had to wonder how this would change now that they were amongst his friends, would he still hold her so tightly in their company? She knew that while he wasn't a horrible shy man, he was private but she wanted to shout it to the roof tops that he was hers and she wasn't willing to share.

Tucking her head beneath his chin, Kagome could only sigh she'd been poking around his home for a reason. She'd wanted to see the people that he spoke so often about, yes she'd meet both Hinata and Naruto Namikaze. They were a lovely couple that seemed to be head over heels in love with one another and they obviously cared about Neji, the assessing look they had given her seemed to speak volumes about their opinion on the matter.

"What's bothering you?" Neji murmured against the top of her head, he knew something was causing her lack of reaction. She's seemed to have lost some of her energy since they'd come to Konoha, and it worried him was she homesick or had he made her unhappy in some way?

"What will happen now that we are here?" Kagome asked looking up, the worry was easy to see in her eyes. She had loved seeing his home even if it was a simple apartment that had only been his for a short time, it seemed to show off him as a person. He had little pride in his clan, he didn't approve of how his clan was run and generally didn't want to have to deal with it. Though he still loved them even if he thought they were in the wrong. This place was very simple there was no high elegance or expensive items, save for what was given to him by family or friends.

"I'm not longer part of the Hyuuga Clan, Kagome. I won't try to hide what I want anymore…It may take some time, I wasn't raised to be affectionate or show emotions outside my home let alone inside our home." His hands moved from her shoulders to cup her face, his thumbs were rubbed at her cheeks before his lips slipped over hers. He did love her, and he sometimes had a hard time showing that outside the privacy that could be found at the Temple or inside his own home.

Instead of speaking his fingers laced through hers before tugging her along behind him, he was certain that she would be tired. There had been several days of activity and this was really one of the only days that they had gotten to themselves. Their steps together were soft and light, as they padded down his hallway toward his bathroom.

Neither of them spoke once they entered the room, the lights flickered on with the flip of a switch. The floors were hard red wood like the rest of his home, while the walls were a light tan color. The shower and large bath were each had a soft sea foam tone, it was plan and lacked any real personality. Garments were discarded piece by piece on a small bench in front of the vanity which held the sink bowl and a simple mirror.

Neji could only hide the small smile on his lips as he watched with veiled eyes as she removed her top and bottom letting them fall across the bench with practiced ease. This wasn't about something sexual it was about comfort and he couldn't help but want her to be comfortable with him in Konohagakure. He didn't want to be the regret in her life and all the could have beens, pulling lightly on the breast wrap he watched as it quickly fell in ropes around her waist before unwrapping it and it too fell across the bench. Bending lowly, he tugged at her modern underwear pulling them down over her hips then thighs then her calf muscles he could feel her soft yet callused hands resting on his shoulders as she stepped out of the garment.

Neji's hands moved up slowly, the tips of his finger ghosting up her legs from her small delicate ankles to the lightly muscled calves. He teased the back of her knee before continuing up over soft thighs before he paused at her hip, kissing lightly at the hollow of her hip bone he continued up his fingers running up her stomach and the side of her breasts. Neji loved her body, the shape, the utter softness that couldn't be found in a kunoichi's body. His lips pressed lightly over the hollow of her collar bone before brushing lightly against her forehead, taking her hands in his he settled in the overly large tub, it had been filling since he'd opened the tap and the tub was rather full.

Neji slowly slid into the hot watch and could only watch through the steam as she followed before settling in his lap. He could only continue to run his hands over her from, over and over again enjoying the way her back curved to the contours of his chest. Kagome always fit with him, it was something that both of them found comfort in.

"How long do you intend to stay in this Neji?" Kagome finally asked, they had been running hands over one another for close to an hour. She was contentedly facing her lover. She could only rest her chin on his shoulder with contentment, even though they had enjoyed the hot springs together this had something it didn't, the utter privacy drew her in completely.

Neji could only chuckle, running his fingers lightly through their comingled hair his own was a sleek black, her own tended to turn a navy blue once it became wet. "I suppose you don't want to wrinkle?"

"Maybe I'm just sleepy…" She replied slyly, before kissing his lips lightly and nuzzling his neck and chin. Her yelp of surprise seemed to echo across the bathroom when he simply stood, her own response was to wrap her legs tightly around his hips and her arms around his shoulders.

"Sleep it is." Neji spoke softly, grabbing a towel as he slipped from the restroom, and straight across the hall to his bedroom. It was traditional in a sense, it had all the parts of a futon both the mattress** and the comforter** , which was laid out on a raised platform 6 to 8 inches off the floor. The futon itself was heavily cushioned; it was nothing like the simple futon Kagome had spent most of her life sleeping on.

Kagome huffed at feeling the towel rub along her back and legs and arms, it was such an odd feeling being pampered. It was something they would both have to hold onto, once the inside of the temple was revealed it would show how much they would have to do to return the old sprawling temple to its former glory. It would be a long time before they would be able to have a day like this, she could feel him rubbing gently at her hair.

She couldn't help but pull the towel from his hands before returning the favor, Kagome would be the first to admit that she loved the jump of muscles underneath her fingertips. Getting on her tip toes, she pulled her lover closer with the towel draped across his shoulders before pressing her lips happily against his.

Neji's hand jumped to her hips to pull her tight once more against his chest to return the pressure on those soft lips. Keeping his arms around her waist the Hyuuga crawled onto his futon before pulling up the covers up around him. Kagome twisted onto her side, and Neji could do little more than curl around her much smaller form. They continue to lay in silence for what seemed like hours before they both drifted off to sleep.

**xXxXx**

Kagome frowned in her sleep, something seemed to be hammering outside the little sanctuary that Neji had created for the two of them the night before. She honestly wanted nothing more than to stay curled up against his side, she tried to ignore the sounds surrounding them before burying her face against the warm muscled shoulder that she'd slept on the night before. She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if his arm was just a little numb, smiling at the thought the raven haired female squirmed lightly. At some point in the night Neji had rolled onto his back and pulled her with him. Once she was again on her stomach, she could only kiss the hot skin nearby the dark haired male had such a salty taste especially after the layer of sweat that seemed to have covered his body during the night.

Smiling a little to herself, Kagome sat back on her heels looking over the contours of his body. Pushing away the covers, a smirk seemed to run across her lips, tight muscles were completely relaxed even his obvious erection was resting against a well-toned abdomen.. She could see a light shimmer of pre-cum and the raven haired woman could just feel hot currents racing up and down her spine at the thought of it. The Higurashi woman shivered lightly as the cold air of the room seemed to begin wrapping around her body. Thin delicate digits sled across his skin, hot gasps of oxygen seemed to catch in her throat as the lean muscles jumped and twitched at the contact as if he knew it was her that was touching him.

The raven haired woman knew that her lover would wake eventually from the ministrations, but that didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy playing with him until that point. Her fingers continued to ghost feather light touches across his chest, stomach and thighs. A small smile began to show at the corners of her lips, as flat nipples began to pucker and button. Flicking her fingers over the tightened nubs, she could only hold her breath when Neji shifted his arms rising up just a bit enough for her to follow the movement of the nonfunctioning gland. Moving closer she licked lightly at the head, before completely straddling the older man. She could feel the athletic body flex beneath her own and it sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine.

Licking pink lips, she bent over her lover, laughter seemed to dance in her bright blue eyes before she began to nibble and lick at the underside of his jaw. Neji was shifting beneath her attention, and it was wildly arousing to be able to simply move away from his touch before returning within his reach.

Looking up, the raven haired woman continued to lick at his body while sleepy incredibly light lilac eyes looked down at her darkening with lust and love. He was watching his lover with contentment as nipping bites continued to bruise him, leaving red marks, then the rough touches that stroked down his sides, that pink lipped mouth followed dancing hands leaving open mouthed kisses and small bites. Once the pale flesh began to redden she couldn't help but to rub a small tongue across it, soothing the skin before the process started all over again. Dipping lower, her hands rested on his hips before finding the dip there biting roughly. She could feel long calloused fingers carding through her hair, as the Hyuuga's breathing became more and more uneven.

Kagome's tongue darted out across her lips in delight before flicking out at the lowest part of his stomach before making a lazy trail downward until coming to a dark nest of curls, his cock in its own right stood up proud, straining, it something that was rather interesting to behold. It was long and thick, the vein that ran along the underside of his cock stood out in earnest and seemed to draw her eyes to the sight. The head was a light pink that was continuing run down the length of his cock and was beginning to darken to a slightly angry red, the coloration stood out against the pale white that seemed to permanently stain the dark haired man's skin.

Tentatively, the small woman ran her tongue across a vein that started at the base of his dick and ran up just beneath the head. Once tracing over the main vein she couldn't help but trace the smaller ones that branched out on the throbbing underside of his cock. Moving again, she lapped at the pre-cum as it ran down his cock, before her hot mouth completely enveloping his dick. The deep set groan that came from above her just seemed to send more heat into her jumping nerves, sucking lightly on the head one hand wrapped around his cock while the other began to play with the heavy balls that seemed to be on fire just from her light curious touches. Kagome could feel the light tugging of Neji's hands as he urged her to take his full length, breathing lightly through her nose she loosened the back of her throat before taking him all the way in. His cursing groans, just made her suck down hard her cheeks hollowing with the action before she began to bob. Up down, every stroke her tongue seemed to slide over his cock, before pulling him deep into her throat to hum around the throbbing flesh.

Neji could only pant and groan at the sensations that seemed to cover his skin, and jump beneath to singe his insides. The man's heart seemed to be pounding in his throat, heat was spread from top of his head to the tip of his toes. Tugging roughly at the back of her head, he felt relief run through him when she pulled back completely before pulling her up roughly against his chest. Licking his own lips lightly he yanked her up completely against his body until he could smash his lips against her own. His hands roamed over her back and down ward before cupping both cheeks of her ass and pulling them roughly. Letting her move and stroke his body, the man could feel his head continue to leak and twitch with want.

"Kagome…" The lips were locked again and she was happily rubbing her nipples against his chest and on the occasion their nipples would brush together causing them to both gasp at the over sensitivity that had formed from the continued touch.

Pulling back, she could only smirk his cock was standing up the red seemed to be darkening even more, it could only twitch as if begging for more attention shifting she wiggled free before moving down his body shifting into a slightly sitting up position. Kagome began to lower herself a small bit at a time, she could only gasp as the swollen head made contact with her aching sex. The raven haired woman could feel him sliding past and into her opening as she continued to shift her knees down until he bottomed out completely in her body. She was wet enough that it was just a hot snug fit, taking a deep breath she began to move at a slow pace.

For a time all Neji could do was watch as his lover rode him, her breast were bouncing with each small bounce upon his cock. Her head was thrown back and the muscles in her neck strained, sweat ran down between her breasts. Her muscles clinched and released with each movement, huffing lightly he began to shift giving her a better angle to come down on.

Placing her hands on his chest, Kagome could only pant as her movements became to come at a faster pace. She began to feel his hips shifting thrusting up into her, as they began hitting her inner most sensitive spot harder and harder as she went. Long calloused fingers slipped up her thighs from the knees to her hips to help her balance across his hips before beginning to thrust up in time with her downward motion. His eyes were lidded as he watched her hips roll down meeting his upward thrust, even though he hadn't been awake for long the dark haired male could feel the tightening in his balls as well as the spasming walls surround his cock that signified Kagome was just as close as he was.

Neji watched as she continued to rid, moving one hand from her hip he pressed his fingers roughly against her straining clit. A smirk lifted the corners of his lips at the hoarse cries of his name as they fell from the dark haired woman's lips. Her body was arching back the harder they slammed together, and the slick slapping of their skin just seemed to make him ache and swell the longer they thrust into one another. Seconds passed before they both came, white and black spots seemed to dancing in front of Kagome's vision before she collapsed into waiting arms.

When Kagome finally got enough energy to look up she could only smile at the smugness on his face, as if this were all his doing and he was rather proud of the results. The small kiss to her brow, then the corner of her mouth had Kagome smiling with all the joy of a content woman. She was so happy to be here with him and she sincerely hoped he knew that.

Neji smiled down at the woman resting on his chest gasping for air just as much as he was, with an affection that just seemed to grow with time. Forcing his muscles to work, he was sitting up and smirking when she didn't bother to move at all letting him do all the work. Picking her up he headed for the bath, they both needed to be cleaned from their activities that morning and he more than likely needed to clean up his bedding all things considering.

An hour passed before either member left the bath room dressed and relaxed from the high power shower that pounded at their muscles. Kagome was once more dressed though not in her temple robes instead she'd taken something more civilian, it would be a long time before the temple was opened properly and trying to clean this particular temple with long robes would be rather foolish.

They weren't the last to arrive but the glances they received from the ninja of Konoha had Kagome shifting closer to Neji simply because of the fact that they were unnerving her with their steady assessing stares. Very few were actually close friends to the private Hyuuga and he wanted to roll his eyes at some of the knowing stares and cold leers.

It took little time to begin, to ignore some of the looks, this of course didn't stop Kagome from going to speak with the others of her order. Many of the people who had been sent happened to be female, there were very few men in their order. As such five women had been selected for varying reasons, and they would be the ones that would help restart the Leaf Temple in Konoha.

The youngest was a fourteen year old girl by the name of Kanna, she was a pretty girl that often times reminded Neji of Jiraiya. The youngest had the whitest hair he had ever seen, and matching black eyes, all that would have been needed where the small red lines that had run beneath the man's eyes. The second girl was sixteen, and went by the name of Rin. He knew this girl much more closely than he had knew Kanna, he'd spoken with the brown eyed girl on more than one occasion about the ninja of Konoha. The eldest went by the name of Kaede and she was the new head or master of this particular temple. Her age wasn't discernable simply because her face and body was so old with age that it was impossible to have a defining feature. The last to happened to be Kagome and her twin Kikyo, he'd been surprised that the two of them had come but reasoned that the Head of the Fire Temple would have gotten an earful from Kikyo at the thought of separating her from her sibling. Both of them could turn into fiery little devils and he was lucky that anger had never been turned on him.

"Ah, Neji!" A voice called, it was bright a cheery and just seemed to be full of energy, the stoic man could only grin. There were really only three people in Konoha that could pull of that type of energy, Kiba the energetic Inuzuka, their "loving" orange Hokage, and his teammate Lee. In this instance it was Lee and Neji could only feel a since of relief that it hadn't been Tenten that had been sent to help with the opening. The two of them had been in something of a tiff ever since he'd happily agreed to return to the Fire Temple and Kagome. Now that his lover was living here in Konoha as well, he could honestly say that he was concerned as to how the two women would react to one another.

"Lee." Neji nodded to his friend, while they hadn't gotten along when they were younger, after being beaten by Naruto and having the time to grow his teammate was perhaps one of the closest friends he'd acquired of the nins near his age. The only other people he felt completely comfortable with happened to be his cousin, Naruto, Shino and Shikamaru.

"Which is the one that has you so enthralled?" The dark haired man questioned, he had grown in several ways in the last several years. Lee no longer wore his emerald green suit, instead he wore a regulation jonin gear much like they all did now that they were older. The taller man's hair had grown out from his bowl cut curling in and out with the few extra inches of length and he seemed to have shot up. Lee was taller than Gai at this point at roughly 199 cm, only Choji came close to his towering height followed by Shino. The rest of them were rather average, at least in height.

Neji couldn't say anything to that, he really had acted like a love sick fool the time he'd spent in Konoha away from her. According to Miroku, Kagome had acted much the same with more depressive sighs than should be allowed on holy ground. It had amused him, and gave a warm feeling in the depth of his stomach. It made him happy that she had missed him, just as much as he had missed her. Focusing on the expectant look on his friends face he could only nod his head toward the twins.

As much as the two of them looked alike there were physical differences, Kikyo was an inch or so taller and a bit more willowy, while Kagome had more curves and a higher chance of getting into a temperous snit. Kikyo's eyes were a brown that seemed to be speckled with silver, Kagome on the other hand had dark blue eyes in comparison. Kikyo preferred the quiet that came with her scholarly productions, while Kagome preferred being outside absorbing the world around her. While they were so much alike, for everything they had in common there were just as many thing that they differed.

The Hyuuga male could do little but point out the twins as they looked toward them as if they instinctively knew that someone was speaking of them. The even smiles that were sent their way caused both Konoha Nins to shudder, it was the look that all women mastered at some point in their lifetimes. It spoke of devilish promise that could bring pain or joy depending on the action that could be taken, when the Higurashi twins began to literally glide toward the two of them both males could only spare a glance and accept their fate.

"The one with blue eyes is Kagome." Neji replied, other ninja were gathering around the area. In fact the Hokage was due to arrive soon, and many of them had to wonder what was required to "unlock" the temple. He'd questioned Kagome about it several times, he was just learning the mandates that the temple abided by and other such scruples. Apparently, if a temple was affiliated with a Ninja city then the people of the temple were expected to go through the rigorous training that came with the job. They needed to be able to protect the temple and the place they called home, in most cases shrines like this were considered to be neutral.

"She is the one you longed for?" Lee asked, his language was still in some ways far too formal for even the most stringent of upper class. His bright eyes were laughing with a type of mischief that always left Neji feeling uncomfortable with worry. Not many people knew it but the wildly Youthful man tended to have a slightly malicious streak, and had picked up pranks as a way to deal with the things that frustrated him the most. The Hyuuga had no idea how many of the merchants of Konoha had been tagged and targeted by the strong man by his side.

"Yes, it is difficult to be here. I want to steal her away back to the shrine near Konshu and disappear. I fear and long for the future Lee. I've never felt like this." Neji finished, before a small smile appeared on his face when Kagome began to drag Kikyo toward them. The twins continued to argue, about what he could only imagine.

Lee looked over the ex-Hyuuga male at his side, "I think that you will be happy throughout everything that could happen. Do not let the others bother you Neji. They are being jealous and petty." He knew this to be true, Sakura and Tenten wanted to get their hands on this little "shrine priestess" and the tall man was sure that some sort of fight would occur. Then again most of them avoided Sakura like the plague now, and Tenten was still sore at being the "jilted" in the failed relationship that she'd had with Neji. The weapon mistress could certainly hold a grudge, even over something that didn't deserve that sort of energy.

"Ah, Hyuuga-san who is this?" Kikyo snarked, lightly. She didn't particularly dislike Neji, but the brown eyed Higurashi woman was more than a little curious about the giant in front of her. The man towered over the majority of the population around them, considering most of the Ladies of the temple only reached about 5'5 this man was a bit of a monster in the height department.

More than anything Neji wanted to sigh at the response that had been given him, " Lee, this is Higurashi Kagome and Higurashi Kikyo, Kagome, Kikyo, this is Rock Lee. I've been teammates with him since I was a child." Sometime Kikyo got into such a twist and she could be vicious when she wanted to be. If being verbal could kill someone, Neji was certain that Kikyo would have killed off most of the world with her cutting tongue. Though her sharper barbs might be reserved for him, considering that no one was good enough for her baby sister.

Lee simply nodded to the women, while they both studied him with curious expressions on their similar faces. The taijutsu specialist could only return the favor there was something strange about them, much in the same way that there was something strange about all the women that had come from Neji's mystery shrine. The taijutsu user could not say that there was anything visibly different about them, nor was there something that showed the difference between them and the civilians.

A sharp call had both female turning away before scurrying toward a temple wall, the men could only exchange glances before following the two women. They were speaking with the others of their order, and a hush seemed to fall over the ninja in question. They had all been waiting for the last week to see what resided inside the temple, many of them hadn't even been aware that a temple had been hidden. The place had been so over run with trees, vines and shrubbery they had assumed that it was a former extension of the Forest of Death. Instead from what the genin teams had managed to clear, it easy for them to see that it was built right up to the edge of the Hokages monument.

"Kagome?" Neji finally had to ask, from what he could tell the genin team had only been able to clear the front of the temple. They were standing in front of what looked like a doorway but it also seemed to have sealed over becoming more of a solid wall of rock or concrete. When Neji's lover looked back toward him with a raised eyebrow he could only snort at the glance. "How is it that the genin team couldn't clean beyond this point? The top of the temple is still covered in vines, and other debris."

Kagome smiled, happy that he had noticed the oddity. "Use the Byakugan," glancing at some of the other Hyuuga members "All of you use the Byakugan and tell me what you see."

Neji nodded, before chakra pulsed toward his eyes and the veins around his eyes began to lift with the steady flow. He could fell rather than see his former clan members do as he did to see what Kagome was speaking of, he knew that according to Kagome that all those who studied in the temple were required to learn how to see what he was seeing with their spiritual energy. Before him running in a great dome was a barrier that seemed to burn with a soft grey light as if it were beginning to run out of energy. The vines had grown over the dome, but there were so many layers that the domed shape was no long distinguishable. Not only that but it was easy to see that things were growing beneath and up through the dome pushing the vines even higher.

"I see, what causes the barrier?" Neji finally asked, allowing the chakra to moves away from his eyes and dissipate back into his chakra coils.

"Ancient Seals….they need to be recharged quite badly, it's also the only way to enter the temple. The barrier itself is exactly like the one that was created at the fire temple, each of us have a different affinity there are five different affinities that are needed to open this particular temple. There are more than five affinities, but we were sent because of where our natural energies lie. They are in an essence like the "element" affinities that chakra users have in there jutsu." Kagome stopped there; she knew that the others were listening in to her speech. The ninja's were giving them looks of skepticism, while her sister was rolling her eyes. Kikyo didn't have a good opinion on ninja. Though, she was relieved that her twin had eased up on her lover, the blue eyed Higurashi hated it when the two of them fought or things got to tense.

Nodding to the ninja both women turned back toward their mentor to begin, the quiet that had been disrupted by questions once more stole over the ground. The eldest of them placed both her hands upon the center of what looked like the entrance, there was a heavy pause as if they were waiting for something to happen. Seconds seemed to pass and several of the younger ninja began to make silly remarks before something did indeed happen. A red ring shot out around the grounds, passing through the ninja surrounding the temple until it fizzled out at what was once the end of the ground outside the perimeter wall.

Eyes widened, before several of the Hyuuga clan reverted to their byakugan's, the barrier that had surrounded the temple was no longer grey. It was several shades lighter, and more translucent than before. Many of the ninja at hand, had laughed and been very amused at the idea that these shrine maidens had any true power. But many of them new exactly how much chakra it took to charge a seal that could cover such a large space.

The quiet could only continue as Kikyo walked forward, she to pressed her hands face down in the same circle at the center of the Temple entrance. Those with the byakugan could only watch with shocked eyes as a blue power seemed to roll around the young woman's body much like a seething pool of water, it seemed to caress the Higurashi woman lovingly. The energy was not charka, chakra didn't behave like that nor did it send itself outside the body, only to condense before slipping into those delicate hands and igniting the area with another flashing pulse of light, blue in color. This to change the barrier, it enlarged beginning to cover more of the shrine grounds, even part of the Hokage's monument.

The energy that was being released could be felt all across Konoha to the point that many more ninja were arriving by the second in concern. Those who knew what was happening left things alone, others could only watched wide eyed as the processions continued, next was Rin her energy was white and clear as could be the change, followed by Kagome. The second Higurashi was a change for those with the Byakugan, the coloration was different a seething mass and multitude of greens from emerald, to the color of grass, to an off colored teal rolling together. Finally, the white haired Kanna stepped forward the energy a vibrant yellow seemed to be in deep contrast to the quiet shy young woman. As the energy poured into the door, many of them even the regular shinobi were forced to close their eyes as a light seemed to encompass them all.

As the light faded many were surprised to find the cemented door no more, instead in its place was a set of large wooden doors, they were deep, rich in color and seemed to call to those around them. The walls seemed to had renewed themselves and the once dead vines that hung down around the whole of the perimeter wall seemed to have burned away, even the large amount of vines that had rested atop the barrier had been burned away. The barrier itself… well they could only see a small line of swirling color that covered the entirety of the grounds and then some. It was as clear as the sky, until it touched the ground then only that thin shimmering line of color could be seen.

An old voice spoke above the quiet, it was graveled and had an ancient quality to it that seemed to catch them all. "Since you ninja, think that we women are so week feel free to push open the doors."

The four young shrine members, couldn't help but to snicker or giggle at Kaede's pointed voice. Really, it would take someone very strong to open the gates for the first time, they were made of Ironwood tree that had long since stopped being used for doors because of their weight. They others continued to titter at the affronted expressions on several of the ninjas faces, Neji looked mildly amused, while his friend Lee looked rather excited about the idea of the challenge. Comments were being made from the men and women behind them, and some of them were less than exemplary.

"Ironwood? They haven't used that in close to fifty years."

"It would take Maito Gai to open those doors.."

"Ohh, so they don't have the physical strength? Just the energy that's so impressive."

"Why did the Hokage want them here again?"

"Shut up, Itoru. Don't question the Hokage!"

A soft chuckling laugh surprised both, Neji and Lee, "So, Lee let's do this." Choji was there grinning at them. It wasn't hard for him to believe at all that the two men could open the doors at all, the Akimichi's all had a strength that came with their bloodline limit, and Lee had trained his physical strength to be in contest perhaps even greater than that of their sensei Gai. The two towering ninja moved forward out of the crowd, they were well known throughout Konoha for everything they had managed in their relatively short careers in their field.

Each man place their hands on one door, before glancing toward the elderly leader who only gave them a pleased smile followed by a knowing nod that left the two of them a bit baffled. Each of them shrugged, before muscles began to flex and twitch as the doors were slowly but surely pushed open by the two powerful men. The doors continued and continued until they were hooked open on the inside of the outer most walls. Many of the people began to gather around, the inside of the grounds was once a lush paradise welcoming all into its sanctuary. Now it was dry and brown from lack of sunlight and water, the steps had once been easy and level, winding toward the building was full of cracks and debris. And the farther they entered the easier it was to see that there had been a battle ground, that something had occurred to have driven out the earlier inhabitants.

There were to walls before they would come to the main structure of the temple, the outer wall they had passed the inner wall was just as high and just as thick. This inner wall didn't make a circle around the compound instead it created something of a crescent, connecting from the outside wall the running across the grounds to run into the mountain. The doors of this second wall were blown away and splintered, the remains smashed inward by some violent blunt force. More weapons covered in dried blood and beginning to rust, and half decomposed scrolls slung open and left were they fell. And the occasional Hitae-ite was left, sending a horrible forbidding chill down the nin's who had come to guard and make reports of the temples status.

As they continued onward into the shrine itself, many could only shudder at the slaughter, the temple to had been forced open. The once white rice paper, and bamboo doors were torn down. The bodies of ninja and temple members alike could be seen scattered across the floor. The skin and muscle had at some point been eaten away, leaving only the bones and torn garments behind. There were several halls, and it was horrifying to see that some of the bones in question were children or young women. They had been innocent, and attacked like monsters from hell by ninja of Konoha. None of the naysayers or those who had scoffed at the idea of a temple could say anything or even look at the only living members of the shrine.

"Come we much find the main chamber….it shall have the answers the Hokage seeks." Kaede looked toward one of the ninja that had been recording everything that had been happening inside and outside the temple. The man could only nod in agreement, his name was Yamanaka Takuya, and it was all he could do not to be sick.

As they walked they eventually found a long hall way that had depictions across the ceiling, and across the walls. There were holes in the walls and it was easy to see that they might had been caused by bomb tags, the outer remain stone covered in ash and soot. It was easy for Neji to imagine and smaller than he should be Naruto crawling into one of these holes to hide away from the village for a few days. The fact that this hall was blessedly without dead bodies was a relief, it disturbed Neji to think that a four or five year old could have crawled in and found this massacre.

The last door was not there, yet another that had been torn from its hinges. Though there was a strange fog that seemed to roll over the entrance, the few that continued into the heart of the shrine could for the most part enter with ease. Some of the rooms had been hurriedly sealed away and it could take Kagome and Kikyo weeks to get them open again. This room in question was the largest that they had come across and had several doors that lead out to the back of the shrine grounds.

Though it was large it was also strange there was a cold chill in this room that had been lacking in the others, because this temple had been built before the creation of things like air conditioning or electric fans. The fog seemed to cover the room lightly and it was easy to see that this was where most of the bodies could be found, at the back center of the room several feet in front of the differing doors was a hazy figure could be seen. As they continued to near the figure it was easy to see that it was an elderly man, but this man was no longer alive. He was old and bald, a small built man who had seen the world before the land call Konoha was put together before the Senju and Uchiha decided to build their city around his temple. There was little muscle left in his preserved body, skin was stretched over bones leaving a very frail looking avatar.

"Huan-sama." Kaede called out bowing to the shriveled figure in reverence. He had done many things for their people, helping them escape ensuring that they would have a home should they ever find the heart to return. It was the old master, the last master of this temple that had stalled it's attackers long enough to allow the others time to escape.

Several of the nin's looked at the elderly woman as if she had lost her mind, but they could only think back to the flash of red strong hot energy that had rolled over them as she'd charged the temples defenses. Silences reigned until a rumbling began loud and low, the entire chamber seemed to take a deep rasping breath after having held off for as long as possible.

"Who calls me?" The fog seemed to shimmer with a neutral tone, as if it was debating to attack or stave off its anger.

"I am Himegawa Kaede. I am to be the new Head of this Temple. I have been sent by the Fire Temple's Master Hishiro. I and four others had come to renew the temple. It is time for you to most on Huan-sama. You have done your duty." Old black eyes seemed to stare forward with a dedicated cool that came with a life time of experience with the odd and ends of the spiritual world. Men and Women died often in this war torn era leaving hate filled spirits that needed help to leave this cursed world. Curses could be place on anything or anyone if the castor in question had enough energy or hatred in their death. Many thought it was rumor or speculation, but nay it was in every that lived even spirits of animals could hate deeply for careless thoughtless humans that killed without thought to life.

"I see…who sought you out…" The breezing gentle voice seemed curious as if it wasn't sure of what was happening.

Instead of speaking, Kaede walked forward simply placing her hand atop the old bald head. The chamber seemed to gasp in horrible tones, as if the energy was being pulled away by a forceful outside source. Suddenly a warm seemed to settle over the room, and the fog began to clear all those inside could hear that soft gentle voice garbling out words that made little sense to many of the ninja and shrine members alike. Kaede's hand receded gentle a sad expression on her face. The elderly body began to change the skin seemed to blowing away in the wind the body turning to ash dissolving down even the man's clothing began to float away settling over the chamber seeming to disperse in the small wind flow that had entered the chamber with them.

The energy that had been with the lot of them seemed to leave them, and Kaede ushered them from the room. She gave the lot of them strict instuctions to clean right after finishing whatever the Hokage had set for them. The rest of the temple could be dealt with on the morrow. It was easy to see that the elderly woman was settled, and they could understand why but not the hows, of this situation.

And slowly as time passed the temple was left open seeing sunshine , wind and water for the first time in years. Though the grounds hadn't been completely investigated until the place was completely cleaned and skeleton's removed it really wouldn't be a safe place to study. There was a sadness in all those who had been hired for this particular job. What reason did Konoha ninja have to attack their own temple? Why and how had this Huan-sama done what he had done? And why when looking at the attack did it seem that some of Konoha's ninja's decided it was better to defend the temple than side with their home land?

Questions seemed to whirl about in everyone's mind, many of them left that day once more questioning the system that had been in place for decades in Konohagakure. Was this yet another example that Hiruzen had allowed something like this to happen in Konoha? The Uchiha massacre was one of those instances….how many more could they have found?

Kagome and Neji could only share sad glances, before Neji could do nothing else but pull the woman closer. If this had happened when he was living the Hyuuga man could understand why some of the nin's would have fought back against their brethren. Sometimes there were more precious things that duty to home and country, if there was no joy or love in life what was the point?

For those wondering about Lee's height here in America, 199cm is roughly 6ft 5 inches and a wee bit more.

** Shiki -Mattress

**Kake -comforter


	6. The Shadowed Sun's Secrets

I don't own Naruto or Inu yasha.

**I'm sorry for taking so long to update but college has taken over and I'm going to say straight up that the likely hood of common updates is going to go down. I'm looking to move to a different apartment, and I'm going to be in all upper level history and Spanish classes for the next two years followed by two years of teaching and library science as masters programs. I'm not abandoning any of the stories it just means it might be 2020 by the time they are all finished as I'm stubborn and refuse to let any of them go.**

Chapter 6

Kagome sighed as she settled on her knees this was just one day of many that involved her working through one of the rooms that had been closed in the temple. Out of the hundred or so rooms that had been sealed away they had only managed to get through clean and catalog roughly seventy of them, it had taken roughly a month and a half to collect everything that each room held. Many of the rooms had been of a personal nature, as such they had contained ancient scrolls full of lost jutsu or sealing. There had even been an extremely old scroll full of advanced healing techniques that had been copied and sent to the hospital and to Tsunade to ensure that these techniques could be taught. Weapons had been taken to the weaponry, while other supplies like clothing, and other personal items were being sorted through by Rin and Kanna. Cleaning, decoration and repairs were done by many genin teams after everything had been cleared away

This particular room was just one of many, several scrolls rested in a basket that would soon be taken to Rin and Kanna. The genin team near her was gathering everything up, while Kagome looked for hidden crevices and ensured that there was nothing dangerous in the room to harm those that were helping the temple. The dark haired woman could only hope that they would soon be finished with the cleaning and repairs, once those things were finished the temple members themselves could once more move in. Though Kagome often times found herself wondering if she would actually move in or not. In the last few weeks she'd been spending her time with Neji in his apartment and she rather liked the cozy accommodations. The only downside in living with her lover, was the fact that he often times went missing for a day or more for missions or when his family arrived to spend time with the two of them unannounced.

Shaking the thoughts away, the blue eyed woman could only stretch her muscles which were sore from being on the floor for hours at a time trying to translate the seals that often differed from room to room. Rubbing lightly at the back of her neck the woman shuddered before leaving the room to speak with the Temple Mistress, she'd done quite a bit of work that day and would like nothing more than a bath at this point. Dust and sweat seemed to settle into every crevice that she possessed and it made for an uncomfortable walk among other things. Waving at some of the nin's working on the temple, the young priestess walked away intent on gathering food for supper through the market before returning home to the apartment.

The young woman new that her lover had returned but was more than lively filing his report or spending time with some of his friends but that never stopped him from coming home at around the same time. Because of this they had something of a routine that never really wavered unless one of them was called away, Kagome generally fixed meals and kept the house hold clean though she did assign the Hyuuga male a few things like taking out the trash and washing the clothing via the machine tucked away in the closet by his bathroom. Today was going to be something very simple, she was rather fond of several different types of food. It was easy to prepare Neji's favorite Herring in Soba noodles, and she did just that adding bok-choi*, warabi*, zenmai*, mushroom, negi*, takenoko*, fried egg and of course of herring which happened to be one of Neji's favorite fish. It was healthy and he enjoyed the dish because of its simple warmth, and with it starting to become chilly in fire country she rather liked the noodle dish.

Kagome could hear the swing of the door and a soft rustling of the wind as it whipped lightly outside, instead of turning she continued her cooking turning the stove top down on low before smiling when warm arms wrapped around her waist. The chin the rested over her shoulder simply watched the efficient movements as she began to clean up around the kitchen. She was one of those people that had to clean as she went to keep from having a large mess at the end, it also amused Neji to no end. Why that was Kagome couldn't fathom but she enjoyed the warmth that was wrapped around her as Neji kept behind her making himself a hindrance more so than a help.

"How was your day?" The soft humming sound that buzzed in her ear following Neji's softly spoken question left a shiver running down her spine.

Squirming a bit, the dark haired woman could only smile when her lover loosened his hold long enough for her to turn in his arms and give the man a loving kiss. "Well, the rooms are taking too much time. At least according to some of the nin's…" The sigh could easily be heard on her voice, "They just don't seem to realize how dangerous it is to have that many seals active. Or that if they activate them there is simply no telling what some of them could do. Kikyo and I have dismantled several rooms that were created to become traps."

"That sounds rather annoying." Neji muttered lightly in her ear, happy to be holding his lover. Long elegant fingers ran through the long hair that had falling from its tight pony tail, all the while running his hands up and down her back. "We've also been invited to dinner with my cousins and several of our friends on Saturday."

Kagome hummed in agreement for reaching back to easily turn of the stove, "Who's going to be there?" She would be the first to admit that many of Neji's friends had been very warm and welcoming to her and she honestly felt that they would become close to one another. As dangerous and violent as the ninja of Konoha could be they wanted many of the same things that the civilians of the city wanted, a place to call home, a family and people that they could love and spend their time with.

"Hmm, Hinata and Naruto, Ino and Choji, Shino should be there and I think his might be there as well. Kiba and Shikamaru will be there, I don't know if they've bothered to invite anyone. Some of the Sensei will more than likely be there like Kakashi, and Kurenai. Tenten, Gai and Lee are on a mission, though Lee might be back in time to go as well." Neji replied, it seemed like so long ago that they had all become such tentative friends but it had grown. Many of their sensei's had their own lives now, and they didn't have time to meet up like they once did. During the war they had thankfully only lost one of their number, but Sai had become a good friend in the time he'd spent with the lot of them. Sasuke on the other hand, that particular man had lived nothing but a life of regret and pain the fact that his ending had occurred when Madara had combined seven of the nine demons and was then eaten…it was a horrible way to go. In the end Sakura had blamed Naruto for the whole shebang and it had escalated from there none of their group would talk to the pinkette, and the only people he knew that did talk to the younger woman happened to be Shizune and Tsunade thought that might be more work related than social.

"Hmm that does sound like fun." Kagome could only smile, the few times she'd met the older nin's of the village she'd liked the lot of them. This would also give her time to spend with Hinata and Ino, she liked both of the girls they were both friendly and Kagome thought that it would be easy to make proper friends with the two of them. The dark haired woman also liked spending time with the blonde woman's children Chouko was the cutest little thing her brother Isamu was just adorable. Hinata had recently been dropping hints and Kagome had to wonder if the Hokage even realized what she was hinting at then again they hadn't been married long.

Neji smiled, before he helped her take the large pot to the table before they both settled down to eat the delicious meal. The Hyuuga male could hear her following at a sedate pace with the bowls and chopsticks, that was another one of the major changes that occurred in the last few weeks. His home had literally become a home, there were fluffy warm towels and actual place settings for the kitchen. The ninja hadn't even seen dust since returning home either; his space was now…lived in.

Dinner progressed at an even rate they both spoke to the other about what had happened during the day, among other things before cleaning and getting ready for bed. This routine was something that de-stressed both of them, it started with a long shower followed by dressing in their pajamas, then a nice long cuddling session that generally put the two of them to sleep. On occasion they deviated and it was always such a thrilling deviation. Snorting at the thought Kagome could only sigh in contentment while resting her head against her lover's chest. It was the nights like this that she enjoyed the most.

O o O o O o O

Kikyo sighed, she hated getting up in the mornings it was a killer for her in every way. Lounging in bed happened to be the young shrine maiden's favorite tick, stretching with cat like grace she rolled from the comfort of warm over stuffed covers to shuffle toward the closet to put on warm clothing, it had surprised her at the chill that was starting to settle across Konoha, winters in Fire Nation were thankfully fair. A person could live outside in the dead of winter with little ill effect to their person.

Shaking such odd thoughts from her head, the dark haired woman pulled on a pair of thick jeans before tugging on a warm lamb's wool sweater over a simple t-shirt. It was mildly amusing to her, many of the civilians and even the ninja expected her to come in priestess regalia on a daily basis. That was a rather silly idea considering they couldn't even hold service at the temple at the moment, there was little point in ruining her clothing when she would be pattering around in the dirt and dust all day. Something that was easy and quick for cleaning was much more practical.

This was just yet another day to work on the rooms, because they as a whole were so methodical in cleaning and cataloguing everything that was sealed away. It was rather interesting if she did say so herself, it had been close to fifty years since the temple had been open and it was rather obvious by the lack of lighting or indoor plumbing, something that Kaede already had being installed in the rooms that had been cleaned. After the plumbing and electrical had been updated, Kaede followed after them to redecorate. The young woman was positive that Kaede was having a blast with all the shopping she was being allowed to do, but Kikyo and the others would never say anything they only watched with amusement and answered when asked their opinions.

Chuckling to herself, the young woman grabbed a protein bar before locking the door behind her. That was one thing she was grateful for the Hokage was a kind man, he'd invited her to a private party that would be happening tonight and she was actually rather eager to meet others in this small town. The ninja were about the only people in Konoha that treated the temple members as normal members of society, the civilians on the other hand treated them with a distance that made both Kagome and herself extremely uncomfortable. Neither of them were used to being fawned over, Kagome might but that was only because the woman loved being spoiled by her lover.

It really was lovely at this time of the year, the leaves were a brilliant matrix of colors yellows, oranges and burnt red rested in the trees while deep purples and dark chestnut browns were preparing to fall. If they were lucky it might snow every four or five years, but this was going to be a mild one. Yawning once more, Kikyo was horribly startled when a team of genin rushed past her after a small brown cat with lightly striped marking on it and a large red bow. Just as she was falling strong arms wrapped around her waist keeping her up right, blinking in surprise the woman looked up only to find serious dark black eyes looking down upon her with concern.

"Ah! Higurashi-san, are you alright?" A deep voice asked, keeping her steady until she stepped back a violent pink on her cheeks.

"Ah…Rock-san thank you." Kikyo tried to ignore the churning in the stomach at the sudden appearance of the man. She met him several times when he'd come to help with the temple he was a very kind man thought a bit silly if the pictures Neji had shown her was any indications. Apparently when the man was a teenager he'd emulated his mentor a bit too far, but he no longer wore the bright leafy green spandex instead he'd traded it in for the simple jounin gear black clothing and the olive green flak vest.

"I'm sorry that they nearly plowed you over, they tend to forget that not everyone is going to become nin's like they will." Lee smiled down at the small woman. Those brown eyes were looking up at him with a warmth he often saw in Kagome's eyes, the Higurashi women were amazing to him they didn't mind the blood that sometimes came with being a ninja and they didn't hold a person's profession against them.

"Ah, it's fine Rock-san. I didn't know that you had a genin team." Kikyo murmured, Lee's students had finally realized that he was no longer following the three of them and returned. They were also looking between the two of them with amusement, the girl on the team looked at them with a slightly scheming look that made the Higurashi woman slightly nervous.

"Hmm, yes. This will be my first team," Lee smiled brightly, "From left to right, Nara Hayate, Ishimaru Masaru, and Hyuuga Chinatsu." All of his students had a focus on Taijustu, and even though he had a deficiency in using chakra he understood and could manipulate chakra as good as the next person. Several years before, Naruto and the Lady Tsunade and come up with a way to allow the "Second Green Beast" of Konoha to use chakra. Lee had several tattoo across his back and shoulders, each were created with a special ink that could contain chakra. Naruto pumped the seals full of chakra at the beginning of every month, and Lee manipulated it to pull of stunning ninjutsu and genjutsu. The downside was that Lee was probably the only person in Konoha that could handle Naruto's mix of demonic and human chakra. Yet because Lee was better able to manipulate the chakra he could force out high level jutsu with little strain on himself or on his chakra supply.

"Ah, it's nice to meet you. I think I've seen you at the Temple helping correct?" Kikyo asked eyeing the three of them. She could understand why Lee had been given the three of them, the Nara boy wasn't quite like the rest of his family in the fact that he was rather ambitious and enjoyed physical exercise yet he was as intelligent as any of his cousins. Hayate took after his mother more so than his father's side of the family, the boy had auburn hair pulled back into a short spiky pony-tail with gray eyes that seemed to analyze the situation at a moment's notice. Ishimaru was a third generation ninja that was proving that his family did indeed have a developing bloodline limit, the limit in question allowed his family to regenerate (chakra, healing wounds and in some cases body parts) at a ridiculous speed without damaging the body's immune system or speeding up the aging process. Masaru was a kind boy with friendly golden hued eyes and deep green hair which seemed to be the telling trait in his family, if one was born with the odd green hair color they generally had the bloodline limit. The Hyuuga girl she knew rather well, Chinatsu was a fire cracker of the Hyuuga clan. She'd been situated to be inducted into the branch family, but after Neji's disappearance it had called the branding of the branch house in to question. Hiashi had finally been able to abolish the system, while his family couldn't remove the bird cage seal without harming their family they could stop people from being branded.

"Yessem, we've been there several times. Lee-sensei thinks we need to understand community service." The Hyuuga girl huffed, her violet eyes were darker than most her families and it animated the girl in a way it didn't the rest of her family.\

"Now, now Chinatsu its good for you. The three of you have been force to flex and learn agility and become more fluid in movement to get some of the chores done, if you haven't noticed each of you had become much better at smoothing out the movements of your taijutsu." Lee replied easily, he'd come to learn that answering his students in a mild calm manner drove them slightly batty. It was now that he was older he could understand Kakashi's particular joy in tormenting his students, and while Gai might not have admitted it one of the reasons he'd refused to play nicely with his students was because he got a sadistic pleasure in watching them sweat.

"Hmm…it can't be that bad. Kagome and I had to learn dance for out fluidity training…" Kikyo remarked lightly, both of them had been taught martial arts at a very young age. The dancing along with yoga had taught them well and they could both defend themselves to a degree. It was unlikely that they could compete with the nin's in this category but they could hold their own.

The boys both looked mildly horrified at the thought of dancing to increase their skill at taijutsu, while Lee's female student looked rather intrigued at the idea. Chinatsu was very motivated to prove herself to her clan, she was considered to be a "prodigy" at ten she was going through Juken like it was candy.

Lee chuckled, "Alright enough stalling, if the three of you can catch Tora within the hour, you'll get the rest of the day off and I'll buy lunch."

Kikyo blinked in amusement, there was a small pause before all three of them took off leaving nothing but dust in their wake. "That was very good motivation, Rock-san."

Lee grinned at the woman, "Feel free to call me Lee, Higurashi-san. I think we know each other well enough by now."

Kikyo nodded, "Then you must call me Kikyo." The dark haired woman replied easily, she could say that she genuinely liked the tall taijutsu master, Lee was different from most everyone she'd met in Konoha so far. There was a softness that surrounded the man, that was lacking in the majority of the rest of the city.

Lee paused, "Ano, Kikyo…are you going to Naruto's dinner tonight? If you are will you go with me?"

Brown silver specked eyes widened, while a soft pink rushed across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Coughing lightly into her hand, Kikyo finally responded "That would be nice, I should be home around 5." When another grin was sent her way and Lee waved before taking off to watch after his charges, Kikyo could only let out a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding. The young priestess could feel her heart pounding away in her chest violently; she certainly never expected to find someone like Lee in a place like Konoha. Smiling softly to herself, Kikyo found herself eager to go out she would get to meet more people and spend time with someone that she felt drawn to.

Breathing deeply, Kikyo took the right turn that would take her to the steps of the temple. Putting aside her excitement for the night, Kikyo forced herself to focus on her work for the early morning and afternoon. It didn't take long for Kagome to weasel information out of her older sister and the younger Higurashi could honestly say that she was pleased that Kikyo was drawn to someone like Lee. The older Ninja was kind to the point of being too kind, but he had a solidness about him that would be able to put up with Kikyo's occasional snarkiness and probably help the older twin get through the blocks she put up against people that she considered to be outsiders. This didn't stop Kagome from teasing her sister for hooking up with yet another ninja though!

O o O o O o O

Kagome smiled, as she gently pulled on the necklace normally a dinner like this would be very formal with kimono's and the like. But because it would mostly be friends of the Hokage and his wife there was going to be a less formal take, instead they would be wearing modern clothing. The dress she was wearing dropped just above her knees, it was a soft gray in color with a halter styled top that tied around the back of her neck. The modern cocktail dresses as they were called had become very popular in Konoha to the point that there were several boutiques set up selling them. The civilians loved these sort of dresses and they often appeared a high society balls and other events of a similar type.

"Hmm, need help?" Neji questioned, before lightly kissing her naked shoulder before pulling the two pieces of fabric into a proper tie around the back of Kagome's neck. The earrings were simple silver drops while the necklace was of a similar make. He was wearing a simple tuxedo and while it wasn't the most comfortable thing, it was much better than the layers upon layers that came with a proper kimono for this type of event. It was actually exciting for him, it seemed like it had been too long since he'd seen his friends. The last time they had gotten together like this was probably during Hinata and Naruto's wedding. The only reservation he had at the moment was that Tenten would be there and he could only hope that she didn't make a scene. In all honesty he was probably over thinking it but it was out of the range of happening.

Kagome smiled, before turning around and pressing her lips firmly against her lovers. The soft movement made her smile widen before she felt a hot tongue rubbing against her bottom lip, the Higurashi woman happily allowed the searching tongue into her mouth enjoying the languid movement as it rubbed against her own tongue and the top palate of her mouth. She could feel a hot hand creeping up her neck and cradling the back of her head, when Neji pulled away Kagome could only lean against the Hyuuga man. When they kissed it always left the blue eyed woman weak kneed, and it was such a wonderful feeling to.

"Do we really have to go?" Neji asked, teasing her. He had a good idea of what they would be doing once they returned from the nights activities, at least if they weren't to terribly tired. He could hear her soft giggles before he was peppered with soft quick kisses, before his lover returned her focus to getting ready for the night.

"I think Hinata would drag us there kicking and screaming to get her way, ohh! Did you know that Kikyo is going with Lee?" Kagome asked softly, pulling her hair back with combs which allowed it to fall down her upper and middle back in thick fat curls. Finally satisfied with her looks, the dark haired woman could only smirk at Neji expression he looked so very shocked at the idea of his friend taking out her persnickety sister.

Neji could only pause as he thought over this idea, Kikyo wasn't a bad person but she was terrified of change and had a hard time expressing herself without sounding bitchy or mean. Lee would more than likely help her with that and her attitude wouldn't really bother the tall man in the least, considering that they had both worked for Tsunade was Hokage they could really handle just about anything. "I think that it will be good for both of them."

Kagome grinned at his answer, at least he was taking it well. Studying the male before her, Kagome sighed before reaching up and straightening the tie it was something that Neji just hadn't know what to do with. The Hyuuga male was so used to wearing traditional clothing that he really had no idea what to do with civilian clothing like the rest of his friends, even Hinata and Hanabi could handle civilian things better than her male could. Checking over him again, the young woman could only nod he would do indeed, acing fingers with her man Kagome could only laugh when he rolled his eyes to walk forward before turning a bit to lock the door and activate the security seals that covered his home.

It was roughly a fifteen minute walk to the Namikaze household from Neji's apartment and Kagome enjoyed the slow walk for once Neji had allowed his hair to rest free and the long thick black hair was dancing in the light breeze that was apparently common in Konoha at this time of the year. When the finally arrived at the Namikaze household Kagome was surprised at the simplicity of it was a large household and it was obvious that it hadn't been lived in for many many years before its current occupancy. Yet at the same time the weathered appearance gave the old building a welcoming aura that seemed to invite people into it. It had a squarish shape until one looked to the left side of the building that curled out and made a circular architecture that Konoha was known for. The walls were white while the roofing was an odd blue green color that seemed to blend in well.

After admiring the house the two of them were swept inside by an excited Hinata, and a grinning Naruto. Several of the guests had already arrived, such as the Akimichi's, Shikamaru and his current interest a pretty lady by the name of Yanagi* who was aptly named considering both her eyes and hair were the shade of the plant she was named after. Kakashi was there with his own wife Erisa who was very very pregnant (the Konoha 11 never did imagine that the man would actually get married), Tenten and Kiba had both come alone while Lee and Kikyo were coming in not to long after Kagome and Neji. Shino wasn't coming as his own wife wasn't feeling well, but he had sent his apologize to their hosts. Kurenai hadn't come either because her son and daughter were quiet sick with an illness that seemed to be hitting all the Shinobi of Konoha.

Eventually the lot of them settled into the living room and the conversation flowed as it always did, further into the night the men and women went their separate ways. The ladies eagerly wanted to question the new women who had entered into their ranks. Luckily Kagome and Kikyo weren't the only ones that were rather new, Erisa had never managed to make the time to meet her husband's students and friends while Yanagi had only been dating Shikamaru for roughly two months( which was the longest that the Shadow nin had managed to date anyone.)

Hinata smiled, looking over her guest Kagome was happily chatting away with Erisa and Ino all the while holding Isamu with a look of adoration on her face. Kikyo was having an in depth conversation with Yanagi about was sounded like poisons and seals which was something the shrine maiden specialized in. Tenten was looking on with a resigned expression, and Hinata knew exactly what the weapons Mistress was thinking. Tenten had come fully intent on disliking the Higurashi woman only for both of them to show, and finding that both of the women were rather likeable.

"So Hinata, when are you going to fess up!" Ino grinned from her place on one of the many couches. She was sharing this particular couch with Kagome who was politely trying to hide the smile that was sliding onto her lips.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Father would be rather happy to know but I think Naruto would simply faint." Hinata admitted, she loved her knucklehead but he was rather faint of heart were female things were concerned. The first time she'd had a period when they were living together had scared the tar out of the man as he hadn't expected her to bleed quit that much.

Yanagi grinned, "Really, it would help Konoha ya know? But I suppose you plan on keeping it quiet, Naruto's go some pretty fierce enemies doesn't he?" She liked the Shikarmaru's friends they were fun to hang out with, they were all polite but perfectly friendly and she was relatively sure that Kikyo was about to become her knew best friend.

"Yes, but you shouldn't wait too long. The first time I didn't tell Kakashi he sulked…for days… But I didn't even start showing until my fifth month, but by then everyone else had figured it out except him!" Erisa's eyes were twinkling with mischievous amusement, she'd been married to Kakashi for five years had two children and was pregnant with a set of twins. She loved torturing her husband and most of Konoha had watched with amusement.

Ino snorted in amusement, "I still can't believe that you're having a set of twins after two births already, I mean really! When you told us your family was known for quick pregnancies we didn't think you meant it like this!" She had told Choji it would be awhile before she was willing to get pregnant again, while she loved her children it was offset by the difficulties she'd had while pregnant.

Kikyo smiled softly, it was almost like being back at the shrine everyone was gossiping and it was obvious that this group was something of a family. From what she learned from Yanagi, general the parents were invited to these gatherings as well but something had come up keeping several of their members at home for one reason or another. The thought of all those people made her heart jump in surprise, Lee had told her that he'd basically been adopted by Gai, then again by the Hyuuga clan.

"Fine, Fine, I'll confess later tonight…"Hinata smiled, "Oh, but I do have questions for the two of you." The too sweet smile turned on the twins, who shared a glance but then simply waited. "I've been curious about the two of you for a while but you don't readily talk about yourselves to anyone. Though I suppose you talk with Neji and more recently Lee."

The Higurashi women shared frowns, neither of them felt comfortable speaking about their family. Kagome finally spoke up, the curious expressions on their faces just meant that this would continue to come up over and over again. " We used to be a family of five, a mother, a father and a baby brother. When we were ten, the village we lived in was attacked by rogue bandits because so few of our village survived it was abandoned. "

"Because of that, Kagome and I began to look for mother's family. Our father's family had died off years before when he was just a little boy. We knew that mother's family had worked at one of the shrines and so we searched, eventually we found them. Kaede is actually our Grandmother, it's another reason why we weren't separated." Kikyo finished, she knew that they were being vague but thinking about their early child hood wasn't something that either of them considered pleasant. The elder Higurashi knew that they might delve deeper but she wasn't willing to answer any more than that.

A quiet seemed to pass over the group before Ino burst out, "Oh…But what about the Nekomata! Neji told us about them and I haven't seen any yet!" This didn't stop the blonde from blushing in embarrassment at having blurted out what she really wanted to know. She'd been curious about the cat's ever since Neji had talked about them at the wedding.

The Higurashi twins went wide eyed, before breaking into laughter before answering in uniosn. "We didn't want to bring them until the Shrine was complete so that they would have somewhere to wonder around in."

"So you do have them then?" Tenten would be the first to admit that she was horribly interested in the idea of flying cats. Or ones that were considered to be "demons" or the fact that they had two tails, the whole idea was simply fantastical to her.

When the only answer happened to be twin grins of amusement the laughter and joy could be heard echoing down the hallway causing most of the men to look toward the open door with curiosity. After the short pause that occurred after the laughter the men returned to their conversations before Neji asked the question that had been bothering him for most of the night, "What has happened to the Hyuuga clan?" While he still loved his family anything that came upon them at this point would be deserved.

Naruto on the other hand grimaced when several heads swerved toward him for answers, apparently Neji wasn't the only one that was curious about what had happened. The Hyuuga councils actions were on the same level of treason that had come with Root operating outside the Hokage and against the Hokage's jurisdiction. "Since everyone wants and answer to that and will most likely tell there significant others, take a seat."

The others frowned, normally Naruto would simply tell them the fact that he wanted them to sit down was never a good thing. That or it would take a lot of explaining on his part to explain the step by step process as to what had happened. Once everyone was seated and they were looking on with curiosity and concern, Naruto began. "To make matter simple, when the Hyuuga council went ahead with their actions without listening to myself they went against a direct action against the Daimyo. The Daimyo of course didn't look kindly upon this action, thankfully he understood that many of the Hyuuga clan members didn't have much choice. The entire council was taken into custody of Anbu, and what we found was disturbing."

The slight pause told them how disturbed Naruto was, "Many of the "main" members of the Hyuuga clan were marked with a different seal, its similar to the Bird Cage seal but in some ways it's much, much worse. They people it's applied to have no free will and they don't even realize it, some of the member had been wearing this seal since their teenage years. We had Kaede come in a remove one of the seals, the person wearing it couldn't remember anything that had happened after the seal was applied. In this case the Hyuuga in question had several children and couldn't remember them or even his wife. Instead the last thing he remembered was before the seal he was twenty-two and planning to run away from the Hyuuga clan to marry the woman he loved most."

"I'm almost scared to ask, what happened to the woman?" Kiba asked, an unnerved expression was easy to see on his face. The idea of having your free will stolen from you, and never even realizing that it was gone? The wild spirit that made up his person abhorred the idea of being chained to never get away, even though this man was "free" there was no telling how many years he'd lost.

"Well, this was back when the Uchiha clan still had the police force thankfully the records were never destroyed. The woman in question was a young woman named Takigawa Momoko, she was raped and murdered in a rather brutal fashion roughly forty years ago. They never found any clue leading to her death only that she had been asking questions about the Hyuuga in question before finally disappearing only to appear nearly a year later as a mutilated body. Out of the eight council members, three of them had this seal applied to them, because of it the entire clan was put under the search nineteen others had this seal applied but it was much more recent. I would say two or three years ago, they would be making up the next selection for council after the current one retired." Naruto had to stop for a few moments to allow that idea be absorbed, it was horrific.

"Do you have any idea who was behind all this?" Shikamaru was the one to speak up now, because they were so close to Neji and Hinata they hadn't been allowed to be involved in the investigation.

Naruto nodded, " It started two heads back with Hyuuga Hiraku, it was all left behind in a journal…he systematically killed his three older siblings to ensure that he would be the only option as far as availability for the Heads position for the Clan. When he worked out what the seal would do, he decided that the Temple could no longer be allowed to be in the way. He starved them by ensuring they couldn't get out of the temple, that no one would sale to them. After several weeks of this treatment he had his men attack, nearly three fourths of the Hyuuga clan fought back. Those who were on the losing end of the attack were branded with the first seal Hiraku created, the bird cage seal. Hiraku was also the head that installed the two child policy, any more than two children would be put into the branch family. Nearly ten year later, Hizaima killed his own father and sealed his younger sister into the branch family. Continuing his father's research he found out how to create this new seal which he called the Shadow Sun seal. As he got older he manipulated everyone around him to get the results that he wanted…It's also one of the reasons that his own children were born quiet late in life. Either way those who approved the actions have been sent to the capital to be tried under the Daimyo, those were sealed away…we still haven't decided what to do about them."

"That's why he went after the temple, he knew from his father that they could undo all his hard work." Neji look horrified that his grandfather and great-grandfather would go so far to control their family. He was even more horrified that he had come from such a line as that, was this why there was so much hatred in his family? Did the branch family know this? Or had it been so neatly buried even to the rest of them, what did his grandfather gain to behave in such a way?

"Yes, and unfortunately he's still at large. We don't really know what he'd going to do, he's unpredictable and not in the least bit sane. It's one of the reason's so many chunin and jounin have been positioned at the Temple. I don't want any of those woman to be harmed," Naruto finished, it was obvious to hear the worry in his voice, the fear that something horrible was coming and it would hurt their home irreparably.

Hours seemed to pass as the lot of them tried to put the worry behind them, they could only hope that nothing horrible would happen. The evening was winding down and the lot of them were getting ready to leave, as they were leaving Neji couldn't help but pull his the woman he wanted as his wife close to him. Worry and fear ate at a knot in his stomach, when they returned home Neji set down with Kagome and explained to her everything that he knew. By the time he was done Kagome was in tears and the two of them could only hold each other, and pray that nothing to horrendous would occur.

*Yanagi-Wisteria

*Bok-choi-Chinese cabbage

*Warabi- Bracken Fern

*Zenmai-Fiddlehead Fern

*Negi-welsh onion

*Takenoko-Bamboo sprouts


	7. Engaged

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, nor do I make any sort of money from this.

**I'm currently working through the National Novel Writing Month aka Nanowrimo, and I've only got this to update. So the next updates should be this time in December for anyone wondering!**

Chapter 7

It was the third week of December and Kagome as extremely happy, they had finally finished the rooms the only thing left was decorating it and filling it's halls with members. In two days' time the Nekomata would be coming to the temple to stay with their partners. The friends that Kagome and her sister had made were more eager to see their feline friends than they were. In the time that Kagome had spent in Konoha she had realized just what she had missed living in the secluded shrine. There was so much knowledge that could be found in the library and so many stories of fiction and fact that amazed her.

While it also took her some time to get used to buying things from the market it was a delightful way to meet people, she'd taken to inviting Rin and Kanna with her. The two girls had been cooped up at the temple housing for nearly the first two months they'd been there and both girls had wanted to explore. Unfortunately they were considered rather naïve by Kaede, as such; the elderly woman hadn't wanted to allow them to wonder around with the traveling merchants, "wild" nins and ignorant civilians. Kagome had finally taken pity on the two girls and agreed to take them out on the town, the results were mixed but it had been a lot of for herself and the two girls.

"_We can go?" Rin asked, she looked like a puppy with her big brown doe eyes gazing at Kaede with such excited hope that Kagome had a hard time trying not to laugh. Kanna on the other hand was simply giving the older woman that simply spelled trouble, not many knew that the young girl was quiet stubborn and was willing to sneak out to do as she pleased._

"_Very well, but I expect thee to stay with Kagome. I do not want to hear that the two of you were wondering across Konoha alone. It doth not matter what city one finds, there are dark areas in all places that humans' gather." Dark gray eyes looked over the two of them, while both girls knew martial arts neither of them had been forced to use it to protect themselves. If they had been trained properly then it would be like a second nature._

_The two youngster's shared a grin "HAI!" the resounding shout had all three of the older women wincing at the loud sound. Both girls disappeared into the room that they had been sharing, the two of them despite the age difference where the best of friends. Kikyo could only glance at her sister with a look of amusement; she had no intention of babysitting she'd promised Lee that she would see how the temple's martial arts compared to that of a Taijutsu Master._

_Kagome sent her sister a glare there was no reason to rub it in, what had she been thinking? The raven haired woman simply shook her head at their over excitement before settling down to wait, this was one of the few days that she had off and yet Neji was away on a mission so there was little point to simply sit at home. Kagome sat, waited and was delightfully surprised when the two of them came out looking like civilian teenagers. The two girls had taken a liking to several of the girls Ninja and civilian that had been volunteering at the shrine._

_Rin had her long straight tumbling mass of hair pulled back, and piled onto the top of her head, the girls freckles were standing out and her skin itself had darkened with the time she'd spent in the sun the last few weeks. The girl had also taken to the clothing wearing simple jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt along with a part of sandals that wrapped around her feet several times over._

_Kanna on the other hand didn't feel quiet as comfortable in her skin, as such her hair remained down brushing the tops of her shoulders, and just as tan as always. The young girl decided on a yellow sweater, and a pair of white linen pants with white slippers. Kanna was such a mature child but she was also horribly shy and self-conscious about her body and appeal to others._

"_Alright you to, are you ready?" Kagome asked looking over the girls with a considering look. This would probably be the best way for the two of them to get to know others and keeping them separated from the populous of Konoha wasn't doing anyone any favors. When both girls sent her happy smiles, Kagome could only groan internally she had little doubt that they were about to turn into normal hormonal teenagers._

_Opening the door of the apartment Kagome watched as the two girls practically danced ahead of her, they seemed so relieved to be out of the housing that they had been camped up in. They also began to pepper her with questions about ninja, the Hokage, how the social systems worked in Konoha and several other topics that they hadn't been able to get answered. Kagome knew that she shouldn't answer all the questions but she didn't see any harm to be truthful, keeping the two of them innocent in a time were war was almost always around the corner wasn't doing them any favors. While working through questions the older woman began to go through what the girls wanted to see, they wanted to see someone training, they wanted to go shopping and they wanted to see the market. _

_ "Alright, we'll be going to the shops first. " Kagome finally stated, the two were starting to look antsy and the older woman tried not to smile in amusement. The two girls nodded and they spent a large amount of time looking at clothing and seeing what was different about Konoha in comparison to the small villages that they had been in before. Neither girl had been in a large city like this and it showed when they wondered through the town and looked at things with very different thoughts than many of its occupants._

_ When they visited the Market Kagome knew that she would have to keep a close eye on the two of them, they were enamored with things from different nations. The jewels and gems, the silks and cotton clothing that came from Iwa, or the coral and pearls along with the different types of seafood that Kiri shipped. Kumo sold gold and many type of game, while Suna was probably the most interest with herbs, spices and a conglomerate of other items that kept them fascinated. _

_Kagome enjoyed the morning the chatting and friendly welcome that they received relieved the young woman more than anything. She also enjoyed haggling with the vendors much more than simply buying from the shop owners, this also allowed her to meet people from all over the continent. The was a seller from Kiri that she adored because he had the best seafood, but he also brought other odds and ends such as recipes from his home town or specific types of herbs that were hard to find along with native plants, vegetable and how to care for them. _

_Kanna and Rin could only watch in surprise as Kagome worked the market with friendly cheer, and a need to be thrifty. They couldn't understand why the older woman was trying to get the best deals on what she was purchasing, but they couldn't help but be drawn into the energy she was exuding or the cheery welcomes they received from the vendors themselves._

"_Kagome, what are you doing here?" A warm amused voice called out from behind the small group. _

_Kagome could only smile when she saw a friendly face, Kiba was one of the many people that she meet during some of the parties that Hinata and Naruto held. Kiba was a friendly man by nature and had become relatively good friends with everyone at the shrine, the older man hadn't meet either of their two apprentices so it was better later than never _

"_Kanna, Rin this is Inuzuka Kiba he is a jounin here in Konoha." Kagome tried to hide a smile behind her hand when to eager little girls turned their eyes to feast on the older man. Kiba was looking rather nervous all of a sudden as if he would like nothing more than to disappear. Apparently all of the once "rookie eleven" had fan-peoples. Sure some of them had less than others but all of them had acquired these fan-people just before, during and after the way. The missions the ninja of the village did was supposed to be a secret so naturally everyone in the village knew who had done what. _

_Rin and Kanna were off like shots asking questions, Kagome almost felt guilty until an amused grin appeared on the dog-nin's face he seemed rather pleased with the attention. Neji had spoken to her about Kiba before, stating that while the dog-user had dated it had never been to serious and in comparison to most of his clan was fast becoming a spinster. It seemed that Kiba's rough and tumble exterior kept most females away and if that didn't than run them off Akamaru did._

_Chuckling to herself, for the rest of the evening Kagome found herself following the three of them around to make sure that they didn't get into any trouble. The older woman found herself wondering if Kaede would allow the girls out if Kiba or others that they had come to know would escort the two girls until they were used to living in the city._

Kagome chuckled at the memory, after that Rin had asked the dog-nin to escort her several times, it seemed the cheery young girl had a rather large crush on the man and Akamaru didn't seem to mind in the least. Shaking her head at the thought, Kagome returned to her sweeping it was hard to believe that the shrine would be opening on New Year's. Just a week away and all their hard work would be shone off, though Kagome wasn't looking forward to being out in the cold the first few days after the New Year came.

It would be roughly an hour before the young woman was off and she was rather eager considering that she had a party to head to. Kagome could only think over it apparently many of wives and girlfriends were getting together for a shopping expedition and the Higurashi woman had been invited. It was hard for her to imagine everything that had happened within the last nine months, she'd meet Neji and fallen ridiculously in love, she wanted to do something special to celebrate but the blue eyed woman just wasn't sure what to do.

Once the job was completed the Higurashi woman put away the broom before, going into one of the back room to change into more civilian clothing. If they were going to go shopping being in her priestess garb would do nothing but attract attention. Smiling at herself, the young woman pulled her clothing on before tucking them away into one of the lockets that had been installed in the back of the temple for its members. Content with her look, the blue eyed woman made her way to the Akimichi household were all the women were meeting.

Ino, Hinata, and Tenten would be there as well as Kakashi's wide Erisa, and Shikamaru's partner Yanagi and the Kazekage's older sister Temari. Kagome had never meet the Kazekage's daughter but she had heard rumors that the man's sister had once been in a relationship with the young Shadow nin and Kagome could only wonder if there was going to be a conflict of some sort once the whole thing got started. Though maybe not considering the children were going to be there so she would get to meet Erisa's two little boys as well as Ino's twins. Hinata's baby bump on the other hand was starting to show just a smidge.

It was mildly amusing to Kagome and Neji at the amount of children that had been born to his family and friends recently, Shino's wife who Kagome still hadn't meet had recently given birth. Unfortunately it seemed the woman had horrible complications, because of this many of the doctors were speculating that the woman wouldn't be able to carry any more children to term. Needless to say, neither Naruto, nor Lady Tsunade had been pleased that something so personal made its way out to the public. Once the offender was found, they allowed the Aburame to punish them as they pleased as long as it didn't kill them. Kagome knew that it was more than likely a fitting punishment but it still made her shudder.

Kagome looked at the streets before her, it had taken some time to get used to walking around Konoha. The ninja village was large and rolled along the land scape in all directions, because of this it had taken some time to get used to navigating. Smiling the blue eyed woman found herself standing in front of the Akimichi compound, walking in Kagome was forced to look around to try to find Ino's home. Apparently all Akimichi homes were made to be extremely large and Ino loved being able to play with the inside of her home. Looking up she found and off-white building with soft red accents, a large plants covered the front of it and spread outward to wrap around the back. That was one thing that hadn't changed for Ino, the blonde woman still worked in her families Flower Shop when she wasn't doing anything else.

Knocking lightly on the door, the woman wasn't the least surprised when Hinata opened the door with a bright smile and eager tidings. Once inside Kagome spent a large amount of time talking with the others, as thirty minutes turned into hours and it seemed to pass Kagome could only snort. There wasn't going to be much shopping done considering the cheer and happiness the lot of them got by being there. Instead their shopping had been turned into an impromptu get together. It didn't take long for the friends and family to converge. Several families were getting together, and it left Kagome breathless at the love and joy that seemed to be spread out among them.

"So how are you enjoying the get together?" Choji asked, setting across from the shrine priestess. The young woman seemed rather tired but she'd been working all day trying to sort out the mess that made up the temple, he'd been surprised at the amount of work that had gone into the place over the last few months.

"There are so many of you, I had not realized that everyone was so close." Kagome replied, and she spoke nothing but the truth she had no idea that they were so close to one another. There were so many people and several people from the same clans, children were running about, teenagers were trying to hide their feelings and gossiping about who had done what and why.

Shikamaru snorted, "When you grow up with one another the way we did it's a bit hard to hide from this lot.. Shino's been trying since we were six" It was true the Aburame man and his family were very anti-social but at least twice a month most of his clan was dragged out to go do something. While they would never admit it the lot of them did appreciate being included in their get-togethers.

A sharp poke in the shadow nin head, had it bobbing lightly and his girlfriend looked heavily amused, "And how many times have you tried to get out of things?" Yanagi knew the man well and understood his need for quiet that didn't mean that's what he always got.

The pained look that was sent toward the woman had a roar of laughter rising up across the room, and as much joy that was being flung around it was obvious that certain members were missing like Konohamaru and his friends along with Neji and the men who'd gone out on a mission with him.

Eventually the group dispersed to return to their homes, Kagome found herself returning once again to an empty apartment. She asked Naruto if Neji was going to be sent on any more missions in the next two weeks, and either the angry glem in her eyes or something Hinata said must have happened because the man had simply shock his head no. And that made her happy as could be.

Smiling to herself, Kagome practically skipped home she was terribly excited at the idea that her lover would soon be home. While Neji had been away the raven haired woman had gotten to know his friends rather well, they were friendly and often times tried to include her in what they were doing. Smiling to herself, Kagome could only look up at the night sky it was odd that it was so similar and yet so different than the Fire Temple she'd spent roughly half her life at.

It was cold but it seemed to accent the clear sky and seemed to show off the brilliant display of stars that danced along the sky. Kagome could only breath in, and out small puffs of mist appeared from the cold. Blue eyes closed, before opening once more a deep sigh left her chest the young woman really didn't want to go home. She loved Neji to death, but she hated coming home to an empty house or apartment in this case.

Going still the young woman could only frown; there was something off that she hadn't noticed before. While it was normally very quiet in this part of the town there was almost always still someone up wither it was with children or working on some sort of papery dead line. The fact that she could hear nothing disturbed Kagome, causing her to hurry when she'd normally be walking. She never saw the senbon needles that were embedded into the ground not feet behind her, nor did she every notice the soft cursing as the man tried to right himself only to see the young woman disappear into the apartment complex that she shared with that Hyuuga man.

The shadowed man could only sigh, he'd missed his target and he knew that his employee was going to be furious with him once he returned. The man in question didn't really have anything against the young woman, but a job was a job and he was slowly starting to regret this one. The girl was young, carefree to a degree and head over hills in love but it didn't stop her from being semi-cautious which was what had caused the man problems. Canceling the sound seals that he's set up, the middle aged man disappeared to make a report and plan out another way to capture the girl.

O o O o O o O

Neji sighed, it was dark and he was more than a little ready to return home it had been freezing in the area that he and his team had been forced to take their mission. Thankfully it was over and he was going to have roughly two weeks of down time before more missions would come his way. The milky eyed man was more than tired, his muscles ached and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hot short shower before sleeping away the night. That was one thing that Neji was grateful for after Tsunade had stepped down, Naruto had implemented something that all nin's had become grateful for after one am offices were closed and you would have to report in the morning. Once upon a time they had been forced to report no matter the time a day so if you arrived at 5:29 am, you were still required to report in.

Which was why at this point he was unlocking his apartment and slipping inside, stripping down, the Hyuuga man could only drop his clothing on the bench inside his bathroom. Neji was more than a little exhausted, a deep hiss of pain seemed to rush from his lips as the blood and caked mud ran off his skin. The fighting had been awful even after they had fought with Iwa in the war against Madara they still held a deep seated hatred for the people and nin's of Konoha, because of this the opposing nin's often times went out of their way to harass the Land of Fire's people.

There were long thin cuts along his abdomen and he wanted nothing more than to lay down, they weren't deep enough to need stiches but enough that it pulled and hurt to move. Shaking his head, Neji bent down before pulling at the pockets of his Jounin uniform feeling the square item the man could only nod before wondering into the bedroom, Kagome was laying in the center of their futon and was fast asleep slightly curled on her side. Chuckling at the woman, the smile widened when a soft mewing at the end of the bed caught his attention. He'd known the nekomata would be coming to the shrine, but he hadn't expected them to arrive while he was away.

"Hello, Kokoro, Kazue" Neji spoke softly, and was amused when four waving tails tipped in black stood up followed by two large pairs of odd colored eyes. Kokoro was the regular tan, with black tips but she had very odd mint green eyes that he'd never seen on a living creature while Kazue like most of his species had the bright red eyes that always seemed to be amused more so than evil that many assumed the color would imply. The two young cats easily padded across the mattress covers with light easy steps, and when the ninja got close enough both cats happily rubbed their heads eagerly against his calloused hands.

Kagome had gotten two of the small cats, there had been a surplus of kittens and so his lover had taken two each from a different little. In two years or so, the two cats would have their own kittens and the process would start over again. IT was a bit amusing but five breeding pairs had been sent to Konoha, and Neji knew it wouldn't be long before Konoha was going to be overrun with the cats. Though it was amusing the people of the temple were apparently very much like a clan, and none of their people could use chakra the same way that nin's did but it didn't stop them from using something familiar to ninjutsu, in fact Lee had recently invited to study with them and the ninja had taken them up on the offer.

Moving the cats slightly Neji slipped under the covers and curled around the woman in the bed. He loved the way her skin felt soft but still firm, he also loved the way she fit against his body as if she had been made just for him. Contentment welled up inside him, even as the two nekomata kittens curled up against his back and his eyes began to flutter close with sleep.

Several hours later Kagome found herself being squished into a curled up position, and was mildly amused to find Neji's arms wrapped around her in such a secure way. It took some skilled squirming to get out of the tight yet loving grip, and make her way to the kitchen. It was the weekend and as such she generally slept till midmorning, the fact that Neji was still asleep meant he'd been gotten in relatively late at night.

Shaking her head at the sleeping male, Kagome could only walk out of the room before she began to laugh. Both Kokoro and Kazue were cuddled up to Neji's back and were buried in the ninja's long hair. It had relieved Kagome to see the two young cats get along with her lover so well, it just showed that she had been right to choose him. Smiling to herself, Kagome walked toward the bath room only to find all of Neji's things all over the bath room. It really wasn't that surprising, in the time that the Higurashi woman had known her lover it had been amusingly obvious that despite his need for order that didn't apply to his own home. Because of this it wasn't uncommon for Kagome to come home to find a few dishes scattered across counter tops and random ninja gear on the sofa, in the bath room and on the bed side tables.

Kagome really didn't mind it wasn't that Neji was a dirty person per say, so much that when he was in a hurry the older man simply left things as they were. Because of this Kagome often picked up after him, and had found a better place to put his ninja gear, it wouldn't do for someone to sit on the soft and stab themselves on a kunai. Chuckling, Kagome gathered the clothing together before laying it on the counter. Walking back into the hallway, the young woman eased open the pocket door before opening up the washing machine, lazy steps took the woman into the bed room and back again before she began to go throw the clothing placing them easily into the washer's opening.

Slipping into the bathroom again, Kagome could only smile pulling out the small pouches and belts that held everything Neji used in combat, wire, tags weapons. What she didn't expect was a small box to fall out of Neji's clothing, unfortunately the young shrine maiden didn't notice the item dropping and simply continued collecting things from the many pockets that were hidden in Neji's clothing. The one and only time she'd missed one, a lightening tag had gone into the washing machine and needless to say they had needed to get a replacement and most of the breakers in the building had needed to be replaced. Content that everything had been removed from Neji's clothing she tucked them into the washing machine, before closing the lid and hitting the small oval button that turned the machine on.

Content that one of her chores for the weekend was completed she began to flutter around the home to clean. The floors needed to be cleaned, the kitchen counters needed to be washed as well as the dishes, the bathroom needed cleaning as well. Sighing to herself, the young woman got to work never noticing when her two mischievous kittens found the velvety grey box that had fallen in the bathroom as a newfound toy.

Neji sighed, blinking blurrily at the white ceiling of his bedroom. He could hear the soft pattering of Kagome working away, the young man wasn't entirely sure why his lover was so obsessed with cleaning but it was nice to come home to warm space that wasn't musty with underuse. Looking toward the door he was surprised to find Kagome looking in wearing nothing but a pair of his boxers and a loose tank top that fell low on her chest. A rush of warmth welled up in his heart at the look of her.

"Did you sleep well?" Kagome asked, walking toward him only to sit on the edge of the bed before leaning over to give him a happy peck on the lips. The woman could only grin against her boyfriend's lips when a lazy hand cupped the curve of his hip before rolling down to her bottom and pulled her fully against his body.

"Hmm-mmm, what have you done so far today?" Neji replied glancing at the clock on the night stand and wasn't the least bit surprised to see it was roughly 2 in the afternoon. Female giggles and small male noise of appreciation floated across the room, as Neji happily kissed along his lovers jaw before moving down to nibble on Kagome's neck. The small smack against his chest, just made the older man snort before rolling over on top of his lover. Kagome squealed loudly when a forceful nip was applied to the top of her breast, delicate fingers threaded through his hair while a slow lazy grin crossed Neji's face. The Hyuuga male could only look at his lover, Kagome's hair was spread out around her in a wave, while a soft blush of joy seemed to have spread across her cheeks along with a joyous light that seemed to be reserved just for him in her eyes.

A loud clatter in the living room had both of them looking up only to see the two kitten's Kokoro and Kazue rushing in they were batting something back and forth between the two of them and Kagome had no idea what it was. Neji on the other hand knew exactly what was in that little grey box, the man could only close his eyes this wasn't how he had wanted things to go. He could only listen as Kagome called the two cats toward them.

The two cats looked up toward the woman before rushing her with the little box which was scratched and roughed from where the two of them had been playing with it. Kagome blinked when they crawled up Neji's back from where he laid between her legs, before dropping the box over his shoulder and promptly began to play with the thick long strands of the Hyuuga man's hair.

Kagome glanced down a smile frown on her lips while delicate eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Looking up, Neji could see the confusion and slight surprise in her eyes and it made him ache. The young nin had been thinking long and hard in the two months that Kagome had lived with him, he loved the young woman he loved her more than he had loved anything before this time in his life. When the young nin looked around at the people around him, the Hyuuga male yearned for that type of life; the happiness of coming home to someone to love, to protect and hold close to one's heart. Neji had never given the thought to children, but he'd seen his lover with their friends children and it made him ache with the want to see Kagome surrounded and full with his children.

"Open it." It was really all he could say to his lover, the sharp bite of little claws that pricked the skin of his back made this seem more real. Neji could only watch as those small thin hands shook as the lid on the hinged box opened. The Hyuuga man could simply close his eyes and know what was resting inside, the band itself was a soft shining sliver it was thin and delicate just like his lovers fingers. A small stone rested in its center embedded in the band, the coloration was a dark blue jade it reminded Neji of Kagome and when he'd seen the item on one of his missions he'd picked it up.

"Neji…this…" Kagome could feel tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Higurashi Kagome, will you marry me?" Neji asked calmly, he wasn't feeling calm at all. Nerves were jumping and bouncing, and he felt his stomach cramp and tighten with worry. He needed her more than he needed anything in his life, Kagome was the most important person in his life.

Kagome felt the tears fall across her cheeks, before she simply kissed him her arms were wrapped around his head pulling him up closer. Calloused hands found their way to the back of her shoulders and Kagome couldn't help the soft sniffle that left her. When Neji pulled back and ran a loving hand across her brow and hair, he only received a lovingly whispered yes before he simply rested his one forehead against hers.

"Are you sure you want to marry me? I mean, any children we have might not have the same chakra that ninja do." Kagome sniffled, when a thick thumb pad pushed away her tears. There was a high possibility that some of their children wouldn't be able to have the proper chakra coils that most nin's needed, Lee's family had lived in Konoha for years even after the destruction of the temple but Lee was the first who had returned to the call of being a ninja.

"Kagome, I love you. I love you more than anything the clan has ever pushed upon me, if all our children decide to work at a ramen shop I wouldn't care because they would be ours. " Neji replied easily, honestly this was what he felt and that was all there was to it. Rolling to his side her pulled her close to his chest, stroking the back of her neck and shoulders, in the end the two of them stayed curled on the bed for the most of the day save when hunger struck or the need to use the restroom. They could tell the rest of the world about their good news tomorrow.

O o O o O o O

Kagome smiled as she looked down at the post cards across the table, Neji had made many friends in Suna and other parts of the world and as a person that liked to follow tradition he wanted to send them postcards to inform them of his engagement and the love he had found this year. Kagome on the other hand wanted to send the same information to the shrine to her friends, they generally exchanged letters two or three times a week. The young raven haired woman had happily agreed, and like the other traditions she had begun cooking and getting ready for the new year. Tonight at midnight they would be striking the bell a108 times to dismiss the longing and sin that came with being human, than they would get ready to see the sunrise. There was a whole host of traditions and Neji wanted to take part of most of them, when he'd been living in the Hyuuga compound this had largely been ignored and the Hyuuga male was delighted with the idea that he would be able to participate with the rest of Konoha.

In fact the ringing of the bells would be the first day of opening the shrine, as it was finally completely restored it had been a delight to be prepared for the new year and the days afterwards. They would be taking turns staying at the shrine Kaede planned on staying and living their permanently while Kagome intended to help Neji look for a house for the two of them to move into for their coming matrimony.

They even had a gathering to go to the night of the first at the Hokage's home, and it seemed that everyone that meant anything at all to Naruto and Hinata were going to be there which meant several dozens of people would be there. Kagome wanted to go and see everyone, she and Neji had been sitting on their marriage announcement and were eager to let their family and friends know. She knew there would be an explosion about when it had happened, but neither of them were willing to share until the party the night afterwards.

Kagome smiled slightly everything was finished and she wouldn't have to worry about anything now that the cooking and postcards were finished. Instead she needed to get ready for work at the shrine as she would be ringing the bell along with the others at the temple. Moving from the table the shrine priestess wondered into the bedroom to change clothing. Pulling on a the traditional chihaya Kagome could only look over this particular set, it was a thick wool to keep them warm in the colder weather. The young woman also wore a thick set of under garments, while it usually wasn't terribly cold in Konoha this year seemed to be an exception.

Leaving a note on the kitchen, Kagome left for the shrine to help with preparations such as cleaning and making sure that everything was in its place. The young woman was pleased that everything was going so smoothly, the bells had rung out across the great city with crystal clarity and the festivities seemed to go on and on throughout the day. Which had led to a much smaller gathering at Neji's apartment, as much as they enjoyed spending time with Naruto and Hinata it was often times far too crowded and busy. Because of this Hiashi and Hanabi had both come to the apartment as well as Kagome's twin as well as Neji's friend Lee.

The setting was private and quiet much how the two of them preferred it, neither of them had a lot to do with the wildness that seemed to be in all the other ninja in Konoha. The dinner continued in a happy manner, Kagome happily teased her sister while Hanabi peppered the two of them with questions about the shrine what sort of thing were they trained in and could they have a spar when she discovered that they had been trained to fight. The two of them had only nodded in agreement highly amused by the youngest girls curiosity, Hanabi was one day going to be the head of the Hyuuga clan and they were all wondering about how the young girl was going to turn out.

"Kagome, why did you decide to leave the Hokage's celebration earily?" Kikyo asked, a little more than curious. The Higurashi twin knew her sister very well, and it was unlike the friendly girl to turn down an invitation or leave as early as she had. While it was mildly worrisome it was also something that had caught the brown eyed woman's attention.

Neji could only glance at his lover, he knew that all of their guests would pick up on the small question in his eyes. The small look of delight that flashed across her face just made his stomach jump with love, while they had been keeping their news to themselves they had begun to make tentative plans. As much as they loved their friends and family, neither of them wanted their wedding to be taken over by anyone. They wanted this to be personal and quiet, if left up to the majority of Konoha it would be a huge wedding. Neji was practically the brother-in-law to the Hokage, and his other sister and Uncle were now ruling the Hyuuga clan with an Iron fist. The fact that he'd been a major player in the war against Madara also contributed to his war hero status and he shuddered at the thought of what his enemies would do if they found out about his marriage or Kagome.

Lee tried to hide a grin, the older boy knew his best friend very well much better than many of his family members and certainly better than Naruto or Tenten. He'd seen Neji pick up the ring a while back and he'd seen it on more than one occasion peeping out of Kagome's clothing were she'd placed the ring on a necklace to keep from losing it. Neji was literally wild about the Higurashi woman and Lee didn't blame his friend, Kikyo was possibly the nicest woman he'd meet that was just as interested in martial arts as he was.

Hiashi sighed, he really didn't understand children anymore. Kagome and Neji weren't working very hard to try to hide the fact that they had a secret. In fact it was mildly amusing to watch as the two were peppered with questions from Lee, Kikyo and Hanabi. This was how family was supposed to be, or at least how he wanted it to be. Loud and full of life instead of being the controlled emotionless lifestyle many of the elders preferred.

Kagome finally smiled, an amused expression seemed to dance across her face while Neji was having a hard time trying to hide his amusement. The glances and expressions that were shared between the two of them reminded Hiashi of a married couple, the older Hyuuga man could only watch as Kagome began to talk. "Well Neji asked me to marry him…..and I said yes," Kagome stated stopping there to wait for reactions. It simply wouldn't do to have to get into long drawn out explanations.

Lee was smirking in a way that said he'd had an idea of what the question and answer was, but he was also quite happy for his best friend. For as long as the Taijutsu master could remember Neji had always had the ability of choice taken from him, and it seemed that now that he was allowed some freedom he was taken full advantage of that fact. The joy that Neji found with Kagome was easy to see in the more relaxed manner the Hyuuga male went about his day and in dealing with other people.

Kikyo simply sighed, she'd knew that this had been coming the two of them acted like love struck idiots. "I'm happy for the two of you. What are you going to do about the others? Or have you made any plans?" For Kikyo this was the best way to keep her ideas to herself.

Neji smiled slightly, "We were thinking April or May. It will give us enough time to plan."

"The problem is that we don't want a huge wedding, and Hinata and Naruto would have a wedding large enough for half of Konoha." Kagome muttered, the look of worried irritation on her face was easy to see.

Hiashi chuckled, "You are going to have to be blunt with them, they will try to change your mind several times to suit themselves." Very few knew it, but Hinata loved large parties and being able to plan out elaborate ideas.

The engaged couple simply sent each other pained expression, while the others laughed in amusement. The rest of the night was spent talking about ideas for their marriage and what could be done to ensure the two of them wouldn't be overrun with ideas from either Hinata or Naruto, neither of them were interested in inviting the Daimyo to their wedding. Laughter ran out throughout the small home while food was enjoyed and the lot of them teased and joked enjoying the moment that allowed them to spend time with the others.


	8. Talk of the Town

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, if I did money for college would be so much easier to come by.

**I have goal for this year, and happens to be getting to 400,000 words on . Think I can make it? Either way I want to say thank you to everyone who has continued to review even though I'm not the best at updates. **

**On another note I have a question for everyone who's reading, what do you prefer in a chapter? Dialogue, action, description? What makes a story come alive for you?**

Chapter 8

Ino hummed to herself today was simply lovely, but any day that Ino Akimichi got the chance to show off her children, and plan a wedding was brighter than the rest. When Neji had gone missing, Ino had comforted her husband. While they might argue and bitch they loved one another very much, when the man left and once more came back this time with several lovely ladies and a happy glow that over shadowed his crankiness. Ino knew that the person he loved had returned, once meeting Kagome, Ino understood Neji's heart much better.

Kagome had an inner fire and wasn't the least bit worried about standing up to the Hyuuga born nin, the dark haired woman would point out all Neji's flaws and love him regardless. The shrine priestess had a quiet pride and joy that showed in her actions, Ino had no idea how many times she caught the other woman playing with children instead of sweeping on the shrine grounds. The blonde Akimichi woman had also happily allowed Kagome to babysit, when she and her husband needed a break.

Kagome's announcement that she was going to get married had caused Ino to pause before cheering the woman one, Hinata had also seemed overly pleased with this and made the blonde give pause before pushing the thought away. Recently Kagome had been talking to Neji about moving into a larger home and Ino had little doubt that the dark haired woman would get the stern man to agree.

Ino smiled slightly to herself Kagome had been good for the normally solitary male, and it was highly amusing to see that both Lee and Neji were terrified of Kagome's twin. Kikyo easily let people know what she thought, and didn't much care what they thought of her because of it. Most of the female nin's were amused by the attitude and happened to agree with the brown eyed sibling.

Looking up, Ino was mildly amused to see Kagome waiting patiently outside her family's flower shop. Ino might be an Akimichi now, but the art and love of flowers was buried deep inside the Yamanaka clan. The store had only grown with age as had the stock, herbs of all sorts were grown there and often times clippings were sent to the medic nin's or the Nara clan for experimentation. It was relatively old in comparison to some of the newer shops, but it had a much more unique look and solid backing from the community.

The windows were high and wide and covered the entire front of the white washed store, allowing one and all to glance in and see what they had to offer. To the side was a white fenced in area that housed a whole host of trees that would grow to tall heights. There were also several plants that couldn't be kept inside because of the strong scents that they put off. The inside of the store was kept extremely clean, while the pale blue walls seemed to give off a serene feel. The shelves were covered in all sorts of pots and gardening supplies, several twirling racks had seeds for vegetables, herbs and flowering plants. Behind the counter in a secondary green house were large rows of plants that could be put to ground, and even farther back was an area to experiment with hybrids.

All in all it was a lovely place, Ino loved working there and the twins simply preened in the attention that they received from the customers. Smiles were passed between the women, Ino handed the dual baby stroller with practiced ease before opening up the front door allowing the two women to enter. Even though it was a week or so until February the Yamanaka flower shop had a constant stream of customers, the time or year didn't stop weddings, or babies from coming as they pleased. Nor did it stop civilian boys from trying to win the hand of a girl, being able to people watch was probably Ino's favorite hobby so working at the counter was a plus for her.

"So what have you been thinking about as far as the wedding goes? I mean it's not that far away," Ino asked softly, focusing on getting the kids in before walking through the doorway. It was still January but if they planned to be married by the end of April they were going to need some help.

"Well, the ceremony itself is going to be held at the shrine, and I've been thinking about having the reception else were. As lovely as is here in April it will still be cool in the afternoon and there isn't a horribly large amount of room for people to mix and mingle." Kagome replied easily, gently taking the handle of the baby stroller, the twins were currently eight months old and the dark haired woman couldn't believe how fast the two of them had grown. The blue eyed Higurashi didn't see how Ino worked with two toddling infants and worked at the same time, it was probably a miracle that she wasn't working as a ninja as well.

Ino paused, before bending down and quickly picking up some of the small hand shovels that had been left on the floor. While not overly sharp they could hurt someone if the stepped on them, not only that but the twins had beginning to crawl and for Choji and herself it was a new form of hell. The twins were into everything, absolutely everything. If it was within reach then they would find it, throw it against the walls or possibly gnaw on it which she absolutely blamed on the Akimichi side of the family.

"Well, it isn't possible to have at your home and I suppose you wouldn't want to have it at the Akimichi home. As much as I love living with Choji about the only house that's decorated at that moment is mine. I could ask my pa if you could use the Yamanaka court yard. It would be friendlier than the Hyuuga and blooming by then." Ino replied easily, looking at the younger girl. Ino couldn't help but think that they were all impossibly young to be having children and getting married, but there they were and the blonde was always sure that it was going to turn into a dream that never really happened.

"Would that be alright? I don't want to impose?" Kagome fretted slightly, she really hated bothering people about small things like this. Sometimes it was simply easier to let things go, yet it was nice for her to have friends helping.

Ino simply rolled her eyes at the younger girl before turning back to the twins, there was an area right behind the counter that had been fenced in with a soft mesh. There also happened to be soft cushy foam in case of an accident as well as several blankets and toys. This was the best way for Ino to keep an eye on her children during the day, they liked toys that made noise and things that had odd shapes. They also seemed to love soft squishy toys but that just seemed to be the way children were.

Quiet rolled over the two of them, on occasion Ino would ask another questions in regards to the wedding and the blonde was surprised at how far Neji had agreed to plan out. But in reality, Ino new she shouldn't be surprised the Hyuuga male was a very precise persona and wasn't interested in wasting time. Though Kagome liked tradition the dark haired girl was opposed to a tradition white, and Ino understood exactly white, the traditional black and white coloring wouldn't fit with either of them.

"Oh! Did you hear about Konohamaru?" Kagome finally asked, looking up from her spot on the floor with the twins, something had been nagging at the back of her mind for the last half hour and she finally remembered what it was. While gossiping was generally looked down upon in the shrine, it seemed that none of them were immune to the wagging of tongues.

Ino's eyes sparked with interest that was one thing the blonde hadn't expected, Kagome and Kikyo were exposed to the best gossip in town. But that was because most of the town treated them like personal admission/advisors in time of stress. "What happened?"

"He asked Kanna out." Kagome sent the older woman a grin, before moving slightly to allow the twins to both fit in her lap. It was an interesting conundrum; it wasn't something that had been expected. The Higurashi woman already knew that her grandmother would disapprove, but all of them could see that Kanna was smitten. Kaede wouldn't push her and would more than likely keep her own council.

"What? But isn't her several years older than her? I mean Konohamaru just turned twenty. Well anyway, what did Kanna say?" Ino frowned, it really wasn't that big of an age difference for someone of the ninja community but the civilians always squawked and huffed at such relationships. Kanna was sweet girl but she was extremely shy, Rin on the other hand was wildly outgoing the brown haired girl often times got Lee or Kiba to take her around the town when she got the chance. Luckily both boys were soft hearted enough to take the youngster out. Then again Kanna would be turning fifteen soon so it wouldn't be that far of a stretch as far as relationships go, "So how do you think Moegi's going to take it?"

"She said yes, they are supposedly going on a date eventually…I don't know how that's going to work out." Kagome could only shrug at the second question, the orange haired girl seemed to be very controlling around the boys in her life. Konohamaru was a nice boy and seemed to turn into a very shy person when he was around Kanna. Then again, from what she had learned from Neji the actual asking process had been rather amusing, Konohamaru had also been going to the temple since it had opened and helping them on a regular basis. The two woman once more became quiet as they began to work with the tools at hand. Kagome enjoyed her second job, working at the Yamanaka's flower shop had allowed Kagome to meet even more people and the dark haired woman loved it more than she had expected to.

O o O o O o O

Kikyo sighed, she had started to hate the market place of Konohagakure, sure, there was enough produce to kill someone. The only problem happened to be lugging it all back to the small home she'd recently purchased. Even though they as individuals weren't supposed to work like the rest of the populous the elder Higurashi sibling had found a way to make funds that would help others and allow her to live outside the temple walls. As much as she loved her grandmother and the others of the temple it didn't mean she wanted to put up with them on a daily basis.

The market place really was a large place, but Konoha was growing and the market was growing right along with it. Kikyo wouldn't be surprised if one day Konoha became the capital it was just in such a prime spot for trade, the stalls were generally kept small but had large backs allowing plenty of storage for merchandise. The stalls were all made of a dark wood probably from one of the ginormous trees, and often decorated by whoever owned the stall. That was the thing about the market place, some of the stalls were permanent and the land and the stall itself belonged to certain people and had been in their family for generations. Most of the permanent stalls belonged to locals but a few had been sold to traveling merchants over the years. The stalls toward the back of the market were rented out by the city of Konoha itself and Kikyo was certain that it was a good money filler for them. It was one of the reasons the roads and houses were always in such good shape, while the high end electronics and lighting were offered to those who lived within the ever moving ever growing village.

Kikyo enjoyed cooking it was something that was relaxing after a long tiring day at the shrine, they were almost always busy now. People came by to speak with one of the priestesses, they came by for charms, a few of the nin's came by for help with sealing. Let's not forget the number of chores that had to be completed day by day, the entire place was simply too big for the five of them to handle. Along with the garden that Kaede had decided needed to be restored and they were more than a little tired at the end of the day.

The cooking as well as an extremely long soak in her overly large bath tub tended to get most of the kinks out, what she hated about cooking would be the clean-up and actually getting the grocery's to the house. Shaking her head at the idea, Kikyo went about her business looking for the best vegetables that she could find. Some of them were foreign, but the shrine woman liked trying different food. She and her sister had grown up piddling in the kitchen when their mother had been alive and the woman had taught them many tricks and ideas.

It was slightly frustrating to her to have to buy everything but they had gotten into Konoha and begun rebuilding at such a late time in the season it wasn't that surprising that they didn't have anything for a vegetable garden. Kikyo wanted something on a smaller scale in her own home, but her little two bedroom fixer was in dire straits for a fresh coat of paint. Kagome kept pushing her to get a genin team to do it, but Kikyo was uncomfortable with ninja as it was there was no way she could simply let them into her house hold without being present.

Shaking her head at the thought Kikyo continued on to the next stall, being able to get a hold of fresh milk and eggs was another nice change with coming to Konoha. The Fire Shrine had been dependent on donations and how far they could spread those funds, here it was easy for Kagome and herself to get a job and being able to support themselves. So any support that was donated to the shrine went to things like festivals and the upkeep. It was actually rather nice to have her own home.

"Kikyo-san! What are you doing here?" A young female voice called out, it had a soft high pitch indicating that the girl in question was rather young. Kikyo was mildly amused to see Chinatsu as well as her two male teammates on either side of the young girl. If the three of them were here it meant that Lee was more than likely not far behind.

"Chinatsu-chan, Hayate-kun, Masaru-kun, how are missions going?" Kikyo asked, each of the boys were holding a large amount of bags while Chinatsu was holding onto an extremely large scroll. Kikyo could only imagine about what was on the parchment. In fact it looked as though the young Hyuuga girl was happily running the two of them ragged, the Nara boy looked like he was ready to take after his cousin and find a tree to nap under. Masaru on the other hand was giving the girl something akin to an evil eye.

"Horrible." Masaru pipped up, his dark green hair was plastered to his forehead and the back of his neck even in the cold weather they happened to be in.

"Oh hush, Masaru! It's been pretty good, I'm really starting to hate D-rank missions! I want to go on a C or B rank, but Lee-sensei won't let us!" The eleven year old pouted, it was true that they had been on a few C ranks but Chinatsu felt like she was being kept captive in her own home town, she was ready to see more of the world.

Hayate on the other hand , simply rolled his eyes while struggling to stay up right with the amount of the bags he was carrying. It was more than food, several of the items on the list must had included different types of metal and it was weighting the boy down.

Kikyo could only shake her head at the girl, the brown eyed woman was certain she knew why Lee hadn't been letting them go on missions recently. While Chinatsu was a wild spit fire, it seemed that she had become a bit lazy since the last time she'd seen the team. Moving some of her groceries over to one hand she rummaged lightly in one of her pockets, food like the fresh she had on hand couldn't be sealed away in the small storage scroll she had on hand but it would relieve Hayate's burden.

"I think that you have been taking advantage of your teammates, you are only holding one small bag. While Hayate and Masaru are loaded down with things, if they have been walking around with that sort of weight for a long time then they are exhausted. If you were attacked right now, you would be the only in any sort of condition to fight. One of your teammates would sure be injured or possibly killed." Kikyo stopped there, all three of the young genin's were looking at her with surprise and something akin to respect, though the Hyuuga girl looked rather affronted by Kikyo's calm commentary.

"Hai, that was a very good assessment Kikyo." Lee smiled, taking some of the things from both of them. The small smile on the tall man's face caused Kikyo to chuckle and simply slip the small scroll back into her pocket, sometimes Lee could be the most devious of men.

" I suppose so, I'm very fond of tactics as well as alternative training methods, the shrine uses them to inspire trust. It's one of the reasons that we can work so well with one another." Kikyo paused, both of the boys looked rather worried about what alternative training could by. Chinatsu on the other hand seemed to be hanging on her every word.

Lee could only grin at that before looking over his students, "Alright you three, I'm assuming that you've gotten everything on your list?" The older man could only snort when the Hyuuga girl looked up at him with such fierce attention, the boys just looked like they could use a power nap. "Then go ahead and return those things to their owners, I'll follow along."

The three of them took off, they were always in such a great hurry. Lee wasn't ever sure why they seemed to need to speed through everything, but they did and he left them have at it. Nodding to Kikyo, he simply slipped away into the crowd. For Kikyo it was always slightly alarming as to how well such a large man simply disappeared into the crowd, he should have stood head and shoulders above the rest of them.

Shaking her head at the thought, Kikyo gathered her things before turning toward her house. In the back of her mind she could only ponder, could she request certain teams? It would be nice to get the inside and the outside of the house done, the colors were picked out and the dark headed woman only needed to pick them up. Yet at the same time, she really wanted to do things herself, Kikyo was something of an independent person and relying on children just seemed to rub her the wrong way.

Once Kikyo arrived home she made quick work to put things away, that was one thing Kikyo had come to love about Konoha. They had something called a refrigerator unit, it kept foods cool and they lasted for much longer. That wasn't something that had been at the temple., it was a nice luxury that the brown eyed woman found herself using on a regular basis.

The dark haired woman was surprised to find that in the last bag of groceries, there was a simple note from Lee. She would be the first to admit that she liked the older man, and to her personal taste he was extremely handsome. Neji was to…soft for Kikyo's taste and the older sibling delighted in Lee gentle but weathered hands. It was easy to see that Lee was a hard worker from the way he talked to the way he walked and it was easy to see in his eyes.

The note was simple on plain paper and in a brilliant green hued ink, asking her to out to eat and at a very inner level it delighted Kikyo. Even though she held something of a grudge against nin's, it was easy to see that most of the people of Konoha were kind even the ninja. Kikyo sighed before returning to her focus to the plans that had been made for the day, she could speak to Lee about his plans at a later date. Then again she did like Lee's team, the children were all rather young and Kikyo found herself agreeing with Naruto. Lee was probably the best jonin he had that could deal with them; all three of them were younger than the average genin.

Any of the others would probably have a problem handling the younger than average children, they were all slightly advanced in comparison to the rest of their class. Most genin graduated at 12 to 14, Chinatsu had been nine at graduation, while Hayate and Masaru had both been 10. Kikyo pondered the system that the ninja used. It let many of the civilians get used to and more comfortable around ninja, which in hindsight might be a good thing. But it made public relations much easier.

O o O o O o O

A cold expression seemed to cover the face of an aged face, Hizaima had a lot of hate in his heart. He hated Uchihas' and had happily helped them destroy the clan, when poor baby Itachi came to the Hokage with the truth, he'd even helped assassinate the boy's one time lover and the illegitimate child that Itachi had never known about. He'd hated the Inuzuka and the Nara, every clan that worked and lived and played in Konoha disgusted him. They should be at their feet, the village of Konoha was founded on Hyuuga land they had no right to it.

Those damn shrine whores were causing all sorts of problems and Hizaima always got what he wanted, and he wanted them dead it was as simple as that. The man he'd hired had missed the mark and unfortunately for him it would be the last thing that he missed, a cruel smile seemed to light the haggard face. The man would soon meet him, and Hizaima was nothing if not patient or he wouldn't have gotten as far as he had in the Hyuuga clan.

Pale eyes seemed to stare unblinking at the doorway, few remembered the escape hatches that had been built into the workings of Konoha. Many of the secondary tunnels and evacuation chambers had been closed years ago. Unfortunately for Konoha, Hizaima had known them better than anyone else. You didn't live through as many wars and skirmishes as he did without becoming a wily old fox that was another thing he hated was that damn fox brat. The elderly man was rather certain it was the son of a whore's fault in the first place, pft, the boy probably didn't even know a damn thing about the Uzumaki clan. Hizaima had gone to great lengths to ensure that part of Konoha's history was forgotten.

Those vividly angry eyes seemed to light with delight as the young man came through the door, the elderly man wasn't sure why he thought using someone younger would work. In reality when things happened, the only person you could depend upon was yourself. That entire trot about friendship made his teeth rot, they were ninja, not sugar craving infants.

The younger man wasn't really that young, but Hizaima considered anyone younger than him to be something of a child. This one was a missing nin from Kumo, and he had no regrets in using the boy. If the nin went missing nobody would bother looking for him, because what sort of Kumo nin came to Konoha? Many of his clan members were still in a tiff about the death of his youngest son, the elderly man on the other hand thought it was a waste of breath as it had happened roughly twenty years before.

The missing nin really wasn't the old only in his late twenties but he didn't have the quality training that the nin's of Konoha did and because of it Hizaima was certain that he could take care of the boy even with his own advanced age. The boys bright and oddly colors yellow white eyes sent a chill down the old man's spine, there was something strange and it had been that reason that Hizaima had hired the little shit. On occasion the boys' eyes seemed to flash to a dark orange and then a strange teal, Hizaima didn't think the boy was completely human and it caused a flare of rage to well up inside him.

"You failed."

"Hn, it's not like there ain't a tomorrow." The younger replied, there as something dark inside the twisted smile that the Hyuuga male received.

Hizaima didn't respond verbally instead he struck out at the creature standing before him. He was struck cold, he could not move and it left a strange feeling inside him. Energy seemed to sway and roll like a tide, chakra wasn't alive! What was this movement within his body? A snarl escaped the hold man, rage just seemed to burn higher inside him.

The young man on the other hand just had an amused expression on his face, humans were so much fun to deal with. He was a mischievous fellow, and while he was courteous to those of court this man had lost the right to claim such. The young man enjoyed causing chaos, upon his sister's request he happily set about the irritation and botheration of the man before him. The hateful thoughts that fuelled this man, allowed his chakra to come alive while forced into being still. This of course gave the man a rather delightfully idea.

What the Kami's gave the Kami's could take away, in this instance he was just a simple messenger. In this one case he believed that his sister would forgive him for causing more trouble than not, the Nara would have all run from this troublesome person at a first glance. The elderly man had become foolish in his later years believing himself to be infallible. A soft humming rose up in the air, and the old man gasped if his body wasn't being held still he would look close to seizing. The gasps were dry and broken as if the body had nothing left, and the young man pondered if he preferred the wet squish of a bloody gasp of this dry brokenness.

Chuckling softly, the young man walked forward before circling the man once, "You should never play in the fields of gods. The mistress of fates is ill pleased." Bowing, the young man disappeared, it wasn't the same as body flicker technique that was so well known to Jounin. It was something else, and a darkness seemed to overtake the old man. He was empty inside, his chakra was still inside, it had to be. Eventually whatever it was let it go and the lax body fell to the floor, blood splattered from the man's mouth and nose. He was going to kill those bitches somehow this was their fault and he would kill them.

**O o O o Eventual Smut Warning had Commenced o O o O**

Kagome groaned, today had started off relatively well but after a few hours she'd begun to feel more and more light headed. And it seemed to have gotten worse several of her friends civilian and ninja had come by all wanted more information about the wedding to the point that it made the girl want to scream. Most of the well-wishers and gossip mongers wouldn't dare ask Neji for fear of a Juken striking against bone.

As much as she had come to love the people of Konoha the lot of them couldn't keep their mouths shut to save their lives. Kagome wouldn't be surprised if Kumo didn't know about their marriage by now, shaking her head at the idea Kagome gratefully slipped onto the couch leaving her coat and small purse by the door. That was another thing that she wasn't yet used to living in a town, the restaurants and certain stores required identification to buy alcohol and cigarettes, keys were something that she now had to carry about with her on a regular basis as well. The small purse carried all the "necessities" as Ino called them and was rather attractive, at least to Kagome anyway.

Toeing off a pair of slipper like shoes, Kagome quickly went to work divesting herself of the bothersome socks as well. The dark haired woman much preferred being bare foot, but that was likely due to living in the middle of no-where for the majority of her teenage life. As far removed as they had been from society, the teenagers that had grown up at the shrine were very much like there city grown counter parts. There was the drama and heart ache, misunderstanding, vicious petty fights that came with being a female and hormones. Kagome shuddered at the thought of vicious petty hormonal driven female teenaged ninja…it was a horrifying thought.

Kagome new that she should be up and cooking dinner for the two of them, because it was her night to cook. The idea of standing on her feet again made the dark haired woman groan in agony. She honestly didn't see how Ino did it, the blonde worked all day standing on her feet, while watching her babies… Yawning sleepily, Kagome pulled one of the comfy microfiber blankets over her body before cuddling down on the couch they could always order out.

This of course didn't last for any amount of time, when someone owned two tailed cats they should always be expect the unexpected. Kagome certainly didn't expect for Kokoro to drop a live and kicking mouse into her lap. The blue eyed woman nearly screamed when looking down only to find two black eyes looking up at her in terror before the little creature scurried away only to be captured by Kazue and brought back to be dropped in the shrine maiden's lap a second time. This time the dark headed woman let off a small sound, this little mouse was relatively young and at the same time Kagome wanted to go hide in a corner she didn't like mice in the least little bit…even if this one was sort of cute in its utter terror.

Before the little thing could be pounced in by the kittens once again, Kagome sucked it up and put both palms over the little thing just as Kokoro went for another harsh jump. The chattering mouse cries made Kagome cringe, this was just horrible what was she going to do with a baby mouse? Where in the world had the kittens' gotten a hold of the little thing in the first place? She and Neji would have either noticed the droppings or the smell if there had been mice living in the apartment with them.

Moving very slowly Kagome cupped the tiny creature between her palms, before standing letting the blanket fall to the floor. Honestly the dark haired woman was surprised that she hadn't been bitten yet. Moving quickly, Kagome moved to the bathroom only to put the small creature in the tub. She was more than a little perplexed, a little amused and feeling a bit of sympathy for the little thing. It's dark brown fur was sticking up on end, and it truly was tiny perhaps an inch and a half in size either way.

Huffing at herself for being silly, Kagome quickly squeezed out the door before shutting it to keep the kittens out. The dark haired woman didn't have the heart to kill the little thing, hopefully she would be able to talk Neji into taking it away. Shaking her head at the thought, Kagome washed her hands in the kitchen sink and could only look up when the slick click of the lock opening and the door pushing open with a soft hiss caught her attention.

When Neji walked through the door and simply looked at her, Kagome tried to stay the urge to fidget. When those pale lavender eyes narrowed, Kagome couldn't help but pout. "What did you do this time?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kagome continued to pout, even when she'd been a little girl she couldn't lie and she certainly couldn't keep things under the radar. When all she got was an eyebrow in response the girl could only huff, "The kittens might have brought a mouse into the house."

Neji closed his eyes, things with Kagome and the kittens weren't ever normal nor were they ever boring but honestly sometimes he worried about the three of them and the need to get into things. They didn't get into trouble really, but all three of them tended to get into things without even trying. "And where is the mouse?"

"The bathroom." Kagome's lips were pushed together somewhere between a pout and being pursed.

Neji couldn't say anything, he had an idea as to what had happened. This had happened last time except it have been a baby rabbit that had fit in the palm of his hand. It had taken him forever to talk Kagome out of wanting to keep the little thing, this one he wasn't surprised about. Instead of saying anything, Neji simply walked down the hallway and slipped into the bathroom. There in the bath tub was a miserable little creature, it was old enough to be able to find food and such on its own so it would be alright for him to leave it at the forest.

Rolling his eyes at the little thing, he picked it up with the pads of his fingers by the slack fur that ran along its back and neck. Neji was honestly surprised that Kagome hadn't been bitten, then again it might have been too terrified to respond, it was looking a bit like it was in shock as it was. Grumbling to himself, he left through the bedroom window and deposited the little thing at one of the wooded training areas. Rubbing his un-mouseafied hand across his brow, Neji returned home only to find Kagome looking at him with this utterly soft and in love look on her face. Sometimes his lover absolutely baffled him in the best ways possible, though he did appreciate the happy and loving kiss that was delivered to his lips.

"Thank you, I don't know what to do that will get them to stop." Kagome pulled back happy to have her soon to be husband home. This was perhaps the best times to be home when it was simply the two of them talking about the things that happened during the day. On occasion this would fall away to sharing things that had happened in the past, or certain stories about friends or family that was meant to entertain as much as give the other a perspective into their lives.

"I doubt they'll ever stop, let's just hope that the game continues to be small things that can simply be returned to the outdoor." Neji shuddered, after the rabbit incident had been the bird incident, thankfully the bird that had been caught was old enough to fly away. Kagome had simply opened the windows during that particular escapade.

The smile sent his way caused a hot burning to rise up inside him, there was something about the way she was looking at him that made his stiffen in hot arousal. The heat and scent just went straight to his stomach, and the dark haired woman couldn't help but give a little gasp at the thick hardness that was pressing roughly into her stomach. It never failed that when he became aroused, Neji seemed to exude heat like a heater.

A heady feeling seemed to rise up into her body, sometimes it was impossible not to feel like that when around her lover. Curious fingers stroked at the hem of her top slipping up and under the fabric before rolling down and pushing slightly under the waist band of her. Kagome own fingers were quick to thread through his hair and keep him close as soft and harsh lips slide together occasionally opened while tongues vied back and forth.

There was always a slow transition were clothing whispered off and fell to the living room floor, skin rubbed against skin. Lips travels and so did strong hands, it was all Kagome could do to keep her grip on her lovers shoulders. Neji was pulling her up high, on hand alternating between cupping her ass and stroking her hip. A strong mouth was currently working on one nipple, a rough nip before a skilled tongue soothed the small ache.

Hair fell in a river as another hard bite to her throat left her gasping, while the hot hard length was nestled between their stomachs. After a small urging from her love, Kagome found her feet on the ground a slightly askance look upon her face until she was ushered toward their kitchen table. At the unsure expression on her face, Neji could only grin before a strong palm settled in the middle of her shoulder blades and forced her to bend over the square frame.

"Hold onto the edges." It was a sinful whisper, which sent shivers throughout her whole body while the heat rushed to her face flushing the cheeks and other parts of her body. Her hands were clenched tight upon the opposing edge of the table, and she could practically feel the burn of his gaze as he looked over her form.

Neji's eyes darkened, his cock stiffened further the growing flooding blood making him ache. She looked so delicate spread before him, he nudged her legs apart slightly to give him a better view of the core he intended to plunder. Kagome's breathing wasn't the least bit regular, in fact it hitched every time he ran a hand down her back, from the tops of her shoulders over slender curves only to squeeze roughly at firmness of her ass. The flesh folds covering his treasure were wet with want and he could only chuckle roughly at her squirming as he teased the soft wet flesh.

Calloused hands tickled the inside of her thighs, enjoying the way she tried to push back for more of his touch. Only to be kept still by the strong hand at the dip of her back, pulling his hand away, a sharp smack followed as well as a high needy cry. Neji could only grin before doing it again, and again. The bright flush of red across Kagome's flanks just makes him smirk, before delving fingers slip in and stretch the dripping grabbing pussy. In fact the dark haired man can't remember that last time Kagome had gotten that wet and tightened that much around his fingers.

The skin is hotter now, especially were Neji's hand had met her ass. He can't help but rub one hand against the reddened flesh while stretching and playing with her tight channel. Those bright eyes seem to catch ever jump and spasm as Kagome's breath started coming faster as her body started to move with his ministrations.

"No no, Kagome that simply won't do." Neji muttered amused, penning his lovers hips with his own. Pulling the ribbon from his hair, the Neji tied Kagome's wrists together, he couldn't have her sneaking any touches in without his permission. Content he kept his weight down hard on her smaller softer body before an easy shift allowed him to force his cock into the hot tight space.

Neji could only groan at the feeling, Kagome was squeezing at him as hard as she could all the while trying to thrust back against him. Instead, he forced his hands beneath her breast finding the arching nipples he happily pinched them roughly between his nails forced darts of pain into her all too delicate body. Those sharp pleads just causes him to pull out slightly before pushing back in as hard as he could. His nails continue to pinch and twist the hardened buds, while his mouth began to assault the back of a thin neck and feminine shoulders. Hard bites left dozens of bruises while he rocked his hips with such sharp control. Kagome felt like she would snap from the attention that her body was receiving.

"Damnit Neji, stop teasing." Kagome could only cry, the pain and the constant pressure on that special spot inside her was driving her mad. It made her feel ashamed that she could never control herself. The heat was driving her mad, this only caused a dark chuckle to occur before hips snapped back, the hitting hard forward causing the woman to scream at the pleasure that was caused by the harder painful pinching of her nipples as they continued to be assaulted. The dual sensations, left Kagome in a bind squirming wasn't going to get her anywhere. Instead steady strokes hit the same spot over and over again, while her breasts where beginning to ache at the pain inflicted upon them.

The slow rocking thrusts were alternated between long rough ones that left Kagome gasping for air, "There! There!" The strokes were coming in harder and she couldn't help but scream, from his name, to yes, or even screaming for the Kamis. The tightening around his cock and the drawing of his balls were followed by a low satisfied groan, as well as a high pitched cry of completion. Kagome couldn't do anything but lay across the kitchen table exhausted, he always made her so sleepy afterward.

Neji kissed the back of her neck lightly, before forcing himself off her much smaller frame. Gathering his lover into his arms he happily made his way to the bed before snuggling in beside her, there would be time to clean up later but at this point he was just happy to be home. This had been one of those days that had involved nothing more than paper work, recently he'd taken a more leisurely role in the ninja corps. Thankfully this allowed him to spend more time with his family and lover.

A calm seemed to settle over there apartment as Neji shut the door to their bedroom, as much as the kittens amused them they were old enough to both fly and transform. Their larger form might not be that of an adult, but it was certainly big enough to defend themselves. Never mind the fact that all of Konoha knew who the cats belongs to and no one was opposed to their attention. Even Akamaru was attracted to the fluffy menaces and they loved the speaking dog just as much in return. Kiba didn't feel the urge to run after them either, so it was something of a relief that everyone seemed to be getting along. That wasn't to say the cats didn't irritate the regular dogs that lived in Konoha, oh no those they enjoyed bothering the snot out of them. But if an animal could use chakra, the two tail terrors were perfectly polite.

Neji looked over the woman beside him, sometimes it was hard to believe how changed he had been. At some point he had looked at this with question, it had felt to fast a relationship too quick to fall in love. Yet on the other side of the spectrum it didn't seem fast enough, he'd never believed in love at first sight. She'd caused him to feel, to want to reach for something that hadn't ever crossed his mind, that so many of his fellows had wanted family and friends. Neji had always been happy to come home and still be a functioning person, the walls of defense were still so high still rushing up around him like a barricade. As a teenager before his round with Naruto, Neji had very low expectations for his life. Even after the fight when the Hyuuga clan began to pull itself back together, Neji had felt like he was in an empty whole. Something just hadn't been right.

This feeling of rightness that he had with her was foreign as it was welcome, this was what he had been looking for without even knowing it. It was a peace of mind to come home to someone that wanted him without reservation and had been willing to give up everything that she knew to be with him. As much as he had loved his team, they wouldn't have been willing to do what Kagome did for him on a regular basis.

When he had first woken up in the shrine it had just been attraction on his part that had turned into intense affection on his part, Neji was relatively sure that he hadn't known he was in love until the first week in Konoha had convinced him of the dull aching throb inside his heart. Once he returned with the mandate from both the Daimyo and the Hokage, Neji had been positive he would either have to polite request to either resign or defect. Emotions certainly weren't his forte but he did try his best for her.

Though there was something that mildly terrified him, and Neji was almost positive that it was Ino's fault. Kagome loved children or anything that was semi-cute, which simply rolled over onto Ino's children. On more than one occasion he'd come home, to find Kagome watching over the Akimichi twins. While this really wasn't a mild thing as the two babies were rather used to his presence, something about the whole shebang made him more than a little nervous. Hinata was also pregnant which was something that his uncle was over the moon about, though it would be his first grandchild so it really wasn't that surprising.

Hanabi on the other hand had turned into something of a hellion recently, finding out the truth behind some of the Hyuuga secrets had undone her perception about their family. Neji could only shudder at some of the things that she'd gotten into recently. Closing his eyes a sleepy yawn was finally released before he slipped farther into the relaxed mood. Moving silently he turned out the lights and pulled the blinds closed to blot out the sun and the streetlights that would soon be on. Slipping into the bed, Neji wasn't the least bit surprised when he fell to sleep rather quickly.


End file.
